Former U.S. police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty (WaPo) of murdering George Floyd, a rare rebuke of law enforcement that came nearly a year after Floyd’s killing sparked worldwide protests and calls for police reform. Floyd, a Black man, died after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes last May in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Chauvin was convicted of two counts of muder and one count of manslaughter and could face decades in prison. He will be sentenced in about eight weeks. The much-anticipated verdict brought relief to many (NPR), but activists and lawmakers have cautioned that much work remains to address the systemic racism and police brutality that Floyd’s murder brought to the forefront of national debate. In an address, President Joe Biden praised the jury’s verdict but called it a “too rare” instance (NYT) of accountability for Black Americans. The conviction garnered worldwide attention and has led to renewed global calls for police reform (WaPo).

In an annual address, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned other countries that they will “regret” making threats (WaPo) against Russia. His comments come amid heightened tensions between Russia and Western countries over a Russian military buildup on the Ukrainian border and the imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Two of Navalny’s allies were detained today (RFE/RL) in anticipation of protests supporting him.

Brussels: European Union member states and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement (BBC) to make law a pledge to reduce the EU’s carbon emissions by at least 55 percent of 1990 levels by 2030.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver a speech (Reuters) at a virtual climate summit hosted by President Biden tomorrow, China’s foreign ministry said. The United States and China agreed last week to cooperate on tackling climate change.

This CFR In Brief explains what to expect at Biden’s Earth Day summit. 

South Korea: A Seoul court dismissed a case (Yonhap) against the Japanese government brought by plaintiffs including women forced to work in brothels for Japanese soldiers during World War II. In a separate case, a different court ordered the Japanese government to pay reparations to survivors of wartime sexual slavery earlier this year. Japan has said that South Korean courts lack jurisdiction over it.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that a summit on the Afghan peace process scheduled to begin in Istanbul on Saturday will be delayed (Al Jazeera) due to the Taliban’s refusal to attend. The summit will be pushed back until after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr holiday end in May. 

Pakistan: A veteran journalist and critic of the country’s military, Absar Alam, is recovering after being shot near his home (Dawn) in the capital of Islamabad. Attacks on journalists have become increasingly common in Pakistan.

Discussions about a possible U.S. return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and an Iranian return to compliance with the agreement continued in Vienna yesterday. Officials agreed to create a third working group (RFE/RL) to discuss the possible sequencing of steps to be carried out by the United States and Iran, an EU statement said. U.S. and Iranian officials are participating in the talks, but they are not negotiating directly with each other.

CFR’s Ray Takeyh looks at whether the Iran deal talks can still succeed.

Syria: The parliament speaker said that a woman, Faten Ali Nahar, applied to run for president (AP), becoming the first woman to do so. Little is known about her. Syria will hold a presidential election, its second since the country’s civil war began ten years ago, on May 26. President Bashar al-Assad is widely expected to win what is seen as a largely symbolic vote.

Rebel forces pledged to march on Chad’s capital (AP) of N’Djamena following the death of President Idriss Deby Itno yesterday, threatening to engulf the country in a violent power struggle. Deby died after sustaining injuries in a battle with rebels, the military said. Today, the military released a charter naming Deby’s son president (Al Jazeera), a move experts said violates Chadian law. 

Zimbabwe: The country’s parliament approved removing a clause (Reuters) on the election of vice presidents from the constitution, a move the opposition said would allow President Emmerson Mnangagwa to consolidate power. The clause had been suspended since 2013, allowing presidents to appoint their deputies. 

The Biden administration plans to set aside (Reuters) six thousand seasonal guest worker visas for people from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, the Department of Homeland Security announced. The move is an effort to provide more legal pathways to immigration from the countries amid a surge in migration to the United States.

Venezuela: The UN World Food Program said it reached an agreement with President Nicolas Maduro’s government to provide daily school meals (VOA) for 185,000 children by the end of the year. One-third of Venezuelans are food insecure.

The pandemic contributed to a global decline in executions (Al Jazeera) last year, rights group Amnesty International said. Saudi Arabia saw a significant drop, with the number of executions  falling by 85 percent since 2019, according to the report. Nonetheless, executions continued in eighteen countries.