News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Protests after Zimmerman verdict

Mostly peaceful protests have been held in the United States after a jury in Florida found a neighbourhood watch volunteer who shot dead an unarmed black teenager not guilty. The jury also declined to convict George Zimmerman on a lesser charge of manslaughter in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Black community leaders have demanded that the authorities pursue a federal civil rights case against Zimmerman. Protestors in New York: “If that had been a white boy and he’d been murdered and a black guy who had murdered him, would they have acquitted him? Hell, no. He’d have been to jail for life and then some. Anybody with any concern for social justice really should be appalled that something like this is happening in the United States of America.”

US top official in Cairo

The United States deputy secretary of state, William Burns, is in Cairo for talks with officials, the first visit by a senior US official since the army deposed Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Burns is expected to urge a swift transition to democratically elected civilian government. Meanwhile Egypt's public prosecutor has frozen the assets of 14 leaders of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.

Azam convicted of war crimes

A court in Bangladesh has convicted the former Islamist leader, Ghulam Azam, on five counts of war crimes committed during the country’s 1971 war of independence with Pakistan. Azam, who is 91, was convicted of crimes including orchestrating mass killings and torture. His Jamaat-e-Islami party opposed independence from Pakistan. It has called for a general strike in protest at the trial.

Rajoy faces calls to resign

Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is facing calls to resign, over text messages he reportedly sent to a former treasurer of his conservative Popular party at the centre of a slush fund scandal. El Mundo newspaper says Rajoy sent words of support to Luis Barcenas, who is to be questioned in court today on alleged secret payments to top party figures from a fund reportedly financed by big business. Rajoy and Barcenas, who also faces tax evasion and money landing charges, deny any wrongdoing.

French Greenpeace anti-nuclear protest

Greenpeace says over 20 of its activists were able to break into the Tricastin nuclear power plant in southern France early this morning in a protest demanding its closure on safety grounds. Plant officials said they had not reached the reactor area.

Merkel calls for better data protection

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is calling for tougher European laws on data protection after the recent revelations about mass surveillance programs run by United States intelligence agencies. Meanwhile reports in Germany say the country’s secret service has long known the US was carrying out almost total collection of email and telephone records in Germany.

The weather

Mainly sunny in the west. Changeable elsewhere, with scattered showers in mountain areas and south of the Alps. Top temperatures 18 to 28 degrees.

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