Briefly

UNITED STATES

Three charged over black jogger's murder

The three men arrested after the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a young black jogger in the southern United States, were formally indicted on murder charges by a grand jury on Wednesday. Arbery, 25, was shot dead on Feb 23 while running in a residential area of Brunswick, Georgia, which has a long history of segregation. For more than two months, local police did not make any arrests. It was only when video of the killing went viral on social media at the beginning of May that the investigation began in earnest. Retired police officer Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis, 34, who were visible on the video, were arrested on May 7.The man who filmed the killing, William Bryan, 50, was arrested two weeks later. Nine counts, including murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment were laid against the three men.

GREECE

EU vows to protect its external borders

Josep Borrell, the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said that the bloc was determined to protect its external borders during his visit to Greece on Wednesday. Against the backdrop of increasing tensions between Greece and Turkey, Borrell visited the land border separating the two countries at Kastanies in Evros in northeastern Greece, accompanied by Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias. Dendias said that there is concern that migrants may again be allowed by Turkish authorities to reach the land border crossing, just as it had happened in late February and early March this year.

AUSTRALIA

Qantas to cut 6,000 jobs as business hit

Qantas plans to cut at least 6,000 jobs and keep 15,000 more workers on extended furloughs as Australia's largest airline tries to survive the coronavirus pandemic. Qantas announced the plan on Thursday to reduce costs by billions of dollars and raise fresh capital. The plan includes grounding 100 planes for a year or more and immediately retiring its six remaining Boeing 747 planes. Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said the airline has to become smaller as it braces for several years of much lower revenues. He said the furloughed workers faced a long interruption to their airline careers. Qantas employs about 29,000 people. Joyce said he expected only about 8,000 of them would be working by next month, and 15,000 by the end of the year.

INDIA

Space activities open for private sector

Indian Space Research Organisation chief K. Sivan said on Thursday that startups and private firms will be enabled to build rockets and satellites as well as provide launch services. Sivan welcomed the government's decision on Wednesday to open up the space sector to private players. Sivan said the move will put India in the league of very few countries with an efficient mechanism for the private sector, leading to an improvement in access to space services.

Lightning kills 23 amid rainstorms in Bihar

Lightning killed 23 people and injured 10 others during thunderstorms and heavy rain in eastern India on Thursday, a government official said. The dead included 13 people who were working on farms in Gopalganj district, 175 kilometers north of Patna, the Bihar state capital, said official Upendra Pal. The injured were receiving hospital treatment, he said. Heavy rains before the onset of the monsoon season have hit the region. In July last year, lightning killed 39 people in Bihar state, also during monsoon rains, which last until September.

Agencies - Xinhua