US police kill more than two people a day, report suggests

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Data collected by the Washington Post newspaper suggests that the number of people shot by US police is twice as high as official figures claim.

The paper said that during the first five months of this year, 385 people - more than two a day - were killed.
The number of black people was disproportionately high among the victims, especially unarmed ones.
Official statistics rely on self-reported figures from law enforcement agencies.
They suggest about 400 people have been killed each year since 2008.
The US has seen a number of controversial casesPolice are allowed to use deadly force when they fear for their lives or the lives of others, however there is currently no reliable way of tracking police shooting deaths.
Instead, the government relies on self-reported figures from the nation's 17,000 law enforcement agencies. The figures exclude killings deemed not to have been justified.
The Washington Post says it logged every fatal shooting in 2015 by police in the line of duty using interviews, police reports, local media reports and other sources.
It found a homicide rate of almost 2.6 per day so far this year - more than double the average 1.1 deaths per day reported in FBI records over the past decade.
"These shootings are grossly under­reported," former police chief Jim Bueermann told the newspaper. "We are never going to reduce the number of police shootings if we don't begin to accurately track this information."
Among the report's other findings:

• Black people were killed at three times the rate of whites or other minorities when adjusted for local population
• Most were armed, but one in six was unarmed or carried a toy weapon
• 365 men and 20 women were killed
• Most (118) were aged 25-34, while 94 were 35-44. Eight were children younger than 18
• In all three 2015 cases in which charges were subsequently filed against police officers, videos had emerged showing officers shooting a suspect during or after a chase on foot.

New York crane's load falls in Manhattan injuring 10

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Ten people have been hurt after a piece of mechanical equipment being lifted by a crane broke free and plunged 28 storeys in central Manhattan.

Two of those injured were construction workers while the others were drivers of passing cars and pedestrians.
"Thank God, this incident occurred at an hour of the day on a weekend when there were not too many people around," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
The incident occurred just before 14:45 GMT at 261 Madison Avenue.
Police officers attending the scene found that the crane's payload had broken free as it was heading to the top of the building, shearing the side of the office block and plunging to the street below, the Associated Press news agency reported.
An investigation is under way.

John Kerry breaks leg in bicycle crash in France

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The US Secretary of State John Kerry has broken his leg in a biking accident in the French Alps.

Mr Kerry, 71, was in a stable condition in hospital in nearby Geneva, Switzerland, a spokesman said.
He was expected to make a full recovery after breaking his right femur and was in good spirits, said John Kirby.
Mr Kerry, who was in Switzerland for talks on Iran's nuclear programme, has called off visits to Madrid and Paris and will fly to the US for treatment.
The accident took place in Scionzier, France, some 40km (25 miles) south-east of the Swiss border.
It appeared Mr Kerry hit a kerb and there was no vehicle involved in the accident, a state department official was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
"Paramedics and a physician were on the scene with the secretary's motorcade at the time of the accident," the state department said.
Mr Kerry "did not lose consciousness", it added.

Nepal quake: Schools in affected areas start to re-open

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Thousands of schools damaged during April's devastating earthquake in Nepal have begun to re-open.

More than 25,000 classrooms in some 8,000 schools were destroyed in the 7.8 magnitude quake and its aftershocks, and more than 8,000 people died.
Many have only been rebuilt on a temporary basis using materials such as bamboo, wood and tarpaulin.
Classes will initially focus on group activities to help children recover from the trauma of the disaster.
Earlier this week, the United Nations said that one month on from the quake, the world needed to provide more food and shelter for those left homeless.
Meanwhile, the Nepalese government - which has been criticised for being slow to respond - has called for more direct aid funding.

Vice President Joe Biden's son Beau dies of brain cancer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Beau Biden, who followed his father, Vice President Joe Biden, into politics and was twice elected attorney general of Delaware, died Saturday of brain cancer less than two years after he was diagnosed. Beau Biden was 46.

The younger Biden, who suffered a series of health problems in recent years, was hospitalized this month at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington for then-undisclosed reasons. He suffered a mild stroke in 2010 and three years later underwent surgery at a Texas cancer center to remove what was describe as a small lesion.

He announced last year that he would not seek a third term as attorney general and planned to run for governor in 2016.

French Open: Djokovic, Nadal stroll into fourth round

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Novak Djokovic continuted his smooth progression towards a maiden French Open title with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 dismissal of Australian prodigy Thanasi Kokkinakis to reach the fourth round.
The world number one from Serbia showed no ill effects from a groin problem he faced during his previous match, ending the tennis lesson on his first match point when teenager Kokkinakis returned a first serve wide.
Meanwhile, Rafa Nadal's attempt to win the French Open for a 10th time picked up pace with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 third-round demolition of unseeded Russian Andrey Kuznetsov.
The Spanish defending champion, seeded a lowly sixth this year after a run of patchy form, showed the quality that has made him the dominant force on clay for a decade, brushing aside his opponent with relative ease.
Earlier, Andy Murray tamed Australia's Nick Kyrgios to also reach the last-16 , winning an entertaining tussle 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Murray, the third-seed, was ultimately too solid for the 20-year-old Kyrgios who played some scintillating shots but fired too many errors to really trouble the Scot.

EU says Russian travel blacklist 'unjustified'

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The European Union has criticised a travel ban imposed by Russia on 89 European citizens - many of whom are outspoken Kremlin critics - as "totally arbitrary and unjustified".
The list was revealed to European diplomats this week and includes past and serving parliamentarians and ministers who have openly criticised President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.
Military figures and secret service chiefs are also thought to be on the list.
European politicians who discovered they had been banned from travelling to Russia wore the badge proudly, as Brussels took aim at Moscow for the decision.
Beyond releasing the names of the blacklisted individuals to diplomats, Moscow has failed to provide "any other information on legal basis, criteria and process of this decision," the EU's foreign service said.
"We consider this measure as totally arbitrary and unjustified, especially in the absence of any further clarification and transparency," it said.
'No justification'