Tuesday Briefing: A year since George Floyd’s murder, Americans reflect on his legacy

The Reuters Daily Briefing Tuesday, May 25, 2021 by Linda Noakes Hello Here's what you need to know. 53% of Republicans view Trump as the true president, labor organizers take another crack at Amazon, and a court finds British spies violated human rights Today's biggest stories FILE PHOTO: Protesters Bettye and Robert Freeman raise their fist from a doorstep as they watch a rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd in Boston, Massachusetts, June 4, 2020. REUTERS/Brian Snyder U.S. As Americans mark the first anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, we asked subjects of three powerful photos about their reflections. They spoke of equality, justice and disillusionment. Managers of the largest U.S. shrine to the pro-slavery Confederacy have voted to create a museum exhibit to "tell the truth" about the Georgia monument and its giant carvings of Confederate figures. A plan to replace an elevated stretch of Interstate 81 has stirred visions of renewal in Syracuse, New York, where one in three residents lives in poverty. Some say it could make amends to the Black community which was displaced half a century ago. A majority of Republicans still believe Donald Trump won the 2020 U.S. presidential election and blame his loss to Joe Biden on illegal voting, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll. Palestinian Shaban Esleem collects books from his bookstore which was destroyed in Israeli airstrikes, in Gaza City, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa WORLD U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged on a Middle East mission that Washington would rally support to rebuild Gaza as part of efforts to bolster the ceasefire. As civilians take stock of the damage, we visited an 88-year-old Israeli who intends to rebuild his home and the owner of a ruined Gazan bookshop hoping for crowd-funding help. Airlines are shunning Belarus's air space and Belarusian planes could soon be banned from Europe, potentially isolating the land-locked country apart from its border with Russia after it forced down a jetliner and arrested a dissident journalist. Britain's GCHQ eavesdropping agency breached fundamental human rights by intercepting and harvesting vast amounts of communications, the European Court of Human Rights ruled. President Bashar al-Assad, once seen as a reformer but viewed by his many foes as a tyrant, looks set to extend his family's dynastic rule of Syria further in tomorrow's election. We spoke to young Syrians who have come of age in a decade of conflict. BUSINESS China's Huawei Technologies will launch its new Harmony operating system for smartphones on June 2, its biggest move yet aimed at recovering from the damage done by U.S. sanctions to its mobile phone business. The use of its own operating system will mean it will no longer be reliant on Android. Federal Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers held unconventional closing arguments in the antitrust trial between Epic Games and Apple, peppering both sides' attorneys for three hours about how far she could - and should - go to change Apple's App Store business. After a failed union-organizing effort at Amazon.com last month, labor advocates are looking to the company's annual shareholder meeting tomorrow, hoping for a chance to get a worker on the board of directors of the world's largest online retailer. Residential property markets in major economies will soar this year on huge monetary and fiscal support and amid a recovery from the pandemic, according to Reuters polls. Average home selling prices have hit eye-watering levels in some countries. Quote of the day "We are surprised that the destiny of one person means a lot, that it is seen as valuable to the European Union. This is something that is lost in Belarus" Dzmitry Protasevich Father of detained Belarusian journalist speaks out about his son's online confession Video of the day Chinese Communists make anniversary pilgrimage The drive to step up patriotic sentiment through a push to study the party's history has been a theme since Xi Jinping became China's leader nearly a decade ago. And finally… Pandemic delays completion of Spain's Sagrada Familia Antoni Gaudi's unfinished basilica, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been hit hard by the collapse of international travel. More from Reuters COVID-19 Investigations Breakingviews Legal News Thanks for spending part of your day with us. Share your thoughts You are receiving this email because you signed up for newsletters from Reuters. No longer want to hear from us? Unsubscribe from The Reuters Daily Briefing. Terms, conditions, and privacy statement © 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036