Bedugul Coffee: Friday Briefing: Floyd's girlfriend testifies at Chauvin murder trial

Today's top stories

The White House eyes executive orders on guns, a train crash in Taiwan kills 48, and the Kremlin gears up for protests

George Floyd’s girlfriend took the witness stand and described their relationship, from a first kiss to date nights at restaurants, but also spoke about how an addiction to painkillers took hold of their life together.

Courteney Ross, 45, was the first witness who personally knew Floyd to testify at the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis policeman charged with murdering the man she loved by kneeling on his neck during an arrest last May. Here are three takeaways from Thursday's testimony.

One of four people shot dead in a suburban Los Angeles real estate office was a 9-year-old boy struck by gunfire in the arms of his wounded mother as she tried in vain to shield him from the attack. The suspected gunman in Wednesday’s violence knew all of his victims and had a family relationship with at least one of them.

The White House is trying to craft a series of executive actions for President Joe Biden to sign to try to limit gun violence, hoping they cannot be quickly dismantled in court, according to aides and gun safety groups.

↑ George Floyd's girlfriend Courteney Ross answers questions on the fourth day of the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., April 1, 2021

WORLD

↑ Stranded passengers walk on the roof of a train which derailed in a tunnel north of Hualien, Taiwan, April 2, 2021

A Taiwan express train with almost 500 aboard has derailed in a tunnel, killing at least 48 passengers and injuring 66. “People just fell all over each other, on top of one another,” a woman who survived the crash told domestic television. “It was terrifying. There were whole families there.”

People in Myanmar opposed to the military junta marched, observed strikes and scrambled to overcome a shutdown of the internet, undaunted by the generals’ bloody suppression of protests during the past two months.

Russia has issued tenders to buy anti-riot kits and protective police gear, state procurement documents show, ahead of a protest that allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny hope will be the largest in modern Russian history.

Europe, under fire for fumbling its vaccine roll-out, is scrambling to speed up the pace of injections and avoid being left further behind by Britain and the United States. In Paris, the city's hallowed national soccer stadium is being transformed into a mass vaccination hub, while Italy has put the army and civil defence agency in charge.

Business

U.S. employers hired more workers than expected in March, spurred by increased vaccinations and more pandemic relief money from the government, cementing expectations that an economic boom is underway.

As Apple's Tim Cook joins the chorus of critics against Georgia's voting restrictions, we look at how a push to attract young and diverse talent and global consumers is behind some of corporate America's willingness to speak out.

A Brooklyn man indicted for an insider trading scheme used information from a Bloomberg News reporter about certain deals to trade, according to a review of the charging documents, in a case that comes as the volume of leaked information about mergers and acquisitions is rising.

A federal judge sided with Nike in ordering a Brooklyn company to temporarily stop further sales of 'Satan Shoes' it produced in collaboration with the rapper Lil Nas X. The sneakers are customized versions of the Nike Air Max 97 sneakers that purport to contain one drop of human blood.