NEW YORK: Protesters who have rallied for weeks over excessive use of police force rejected New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plea to suspend demonstrations after the killing of two officers, vowing to march in the centre of Manhattan last evening.
Answer Coalition, organisers of a march on 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan said a “peaceful protest against police violence” would continue as planned. “The mayor’s call for a suspension of democracy and the exercise of free speech rights in the face of ongoing injustice is outrageous.”
N Ireland parties break deadlock
LONDON: Rival parties in Northern Ireland reached agreement yesterday over government reforms and dealing with the province’s violent past after months of talks.
Five parties agreed to a programme addressing immediate budgetary issues as well as longer term reforms of welfare and the public sector, underpinned by an extra £2bn promised by the British government. The deal promised further services and rights for families of the victims of The Troubles, including a new organisation to investigate unsolved killings during the three decades of civil unrest.
Greece moves closer to early polls
ATHENS: Greece moved closer yesterday to early elections that could undermine its international bailout and rekindle a eurozone crisis after lawmakers failed for a second time to elect a president.
The government candidate, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, fell 32 votes short of the required 200 votes, meaning a third and final vote will be held on December 29.
European Union and International Monetary Fund officials fear an early election would be won by radical leftist party Syriza and could undo many of Greece’s ongoing fiscal reforms.
Huge payout for bushfire survivors
SYDNEY: Survivors of a 2009 bushfire in Australia won final court approval yesterday for a nearly Aus$500m (US$407m) payout — the biggest class action settlement in the nation’s history.
The Kilmore East blaze was the largest of the February 2009 fires in southern Victoria state that left 173 dead and razed more than 2,000 homes, the nation’s worst natural disaster of modern times. Thousands of people joined an action blaming power company SP AusNet over the inferno, claiming SP AusNet’s faulty equipment ignited the blaze.
Russia convicts 57 in terror case
MOSCOW: A Russian court yesterday convicted 57 people, jailing five of them for life, after a decade-long trial over an armed raid on the North Caucasus city of Nalchik.
The October 2005 attack saw dozens of armed men swarm the city, raiding several security offices, arms shops and other buildings. Fifty people died, including 35 policemen, and more than 200 were injured.
In a statement, the Investigative Committee said the supreme court of the Kabardino-Balkaria region convicted all 57 defendants of various charges, which included terrorism, illegal arms possession, murder and armed rebellion. AGENCIES
