Convicted

The former Minneapolis police officer who knelt on a black man’s neck during an arrest attempt faces up to 40 years in prison after a jury returned a guilty verdict on all charges on April 20. The jury deliberated for about 10 hours before declaring Derek Chauvin committed second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. George Floyd’s brother, Philonise, described what it felt like to hear the guilty verdict: “We can breathe again.” Across the country, activists and leaders expressed relief. Floyd’s death, which a bystander caught on video, sparked nationwide anti-police and anti-racism riots and protests. Pro-police groups gave more somber responses but said they accepted the verdict. “There are no winners in this case, and we respect the jury’s decision,” the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis said in a statement.

Died

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, died April 9 at age 99. Philippos Andreou of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderberg-Glücksburg, prince of Greece and Denmark, was born an heir to the Greek throne. Amid revolution and death threats, Philip’s father fled into exile with his wife and family. While a cadet in the Royal Navy, Philip met 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth, whom he later married in 1947. His tense relationship with the media reared its head often, but the press could only admire when Philip joined his grandchildren Prince William, 15, and Prince Harry, 12, during the funeral procession of their mother, Princess Diana, in 1997. “If you like, I’ll walk with you,” he famously told them.

Sued

Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., is seeking more than $10 million in damages from its former president and chancellor, Jerry Falwell Jr. A civil lawsuit filed April 15 claims Falwell intentionally built a 2019 employment agreement to allow him to leave the school without informing leadership of personal scandals. Liberty accuses him of failing to disclose “personal impairment by alcohol” and a developing scandal with Giancarlo Granda, who claimed he had a sexual relationship with Falwell’s wife, Becki, and that Falwell was involved. The couple acknowledged an affair but denied Jerry Falwell Jr. participated. He said the lawsuit was full of “lies and half-truths.”

Appointed

For the first time since the 1959 revolution, a Castro is not in charge of Cuba. The country’s Communist Party on April 19 chose Miguel Díaz-Canel as its next leader. The 61-year-old was born a year after the revolution. He earned an engineering degree and climbed rapidly through government ranks. In 2012, he rose to one of Cuba’s vice presidencies and soon thereafter was named first vice president. Díaz-Canel has supported some small-scale reforms such as allowing more small private businesses. But he has steadfastly defended Cuba’s communist system.