The Suez Canal is open for business. Capitalism lives to see another day, unfortunately.

Happening in the World: Ever Given, a 400m-long ship that has been stuck in the Suez Canal for the past week disrupting ship traffic, has officially been unblocked from the canal. 30,000 cubic meters of sand had to be removed, and eleven harbour tugs and two seagoing tugs had to be employed to set the ship straight. Traffic through the Suez Canal has yet to resume (BBC).

Happening in the US: The trial to determine if Derek Chauvin is guilty of the murder of George Floyd begins today. Chauvin’s defense plans on arguing that Floyd’s death was caused by underlying medical conditions, specifically a drug overdose. The trial is expected to take about four weeks (CNN).

Happening in NYC: While the United States is seeing an uptick in cases of COVID-19, New York City is holding relatively steady. Epidemiologist Dr. Nash is concerned, though, at how high the case plateau has settled. Nash suggests that despite the efforts working on the vaccine rollout, a lack of effort to prevent community transmission is holding COVID-19 rates above what is desired (Gothamist).

Happening in our Community: The East Central European Center at the Harriman Institute is holding a Zoom presentation by Gábor Dobó, a literary historian and researcher at the Kassák Museum – Petőfi Literary Museum in Budapest. They will be focusing on Hungarian avant-garde journal women, and how their interaction with avant-garde affected their public image. To register for this presentation, click here.

Film of the Week: Palm Springs (dir. by Max Barbakow)

court room via Bwog Archives