Briefly

UNITED STATES

White men go on trial over jogger's death

Three white men in Georgia were expected to go on trial on Monday in the high-profile shooting death of a black jogger that sparked a national outcry and helped fuel last summer's social justice protests. Gregory McMichael, 65, his son Travis, 35, and their neighbor William Bryan, 52, have been charged with murder and aggravated assault after chasing 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery and shooting him during a confrontation in February 2020. The father and son followed Arbery in a pickup truck, while Bryan trailed them and filmed the scene. After an altercation, Travis McMichael opened fire and killed Arbery. It was only after the video of the shooting was leaked online and shared widely on social media that the case was transferred to state police and the three were arrested and charged.

1 killed, 7 injured in campus shooting

One person was killed and seven others injured in a shooting at Grambling State University in the southern US state of Louisiana on Sunday, local authorities said. Among the injured, one is in critical condition, Louisiana State Police Master Trooper Michael Reichardt said at a news conference. In the wake of the shooting, the university set a curfew from 9:30 pm to 6:00 am until further notice, said the report, adding that homecoming events on Sunday as well as classes on Monday and Tuesday have been canceled.

NEW ZEALAND

Lockdown extended amid Delta surge

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday that the country's biggest city Auckland will remain in lockdown for another two weeks as it looks to control the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus. There will be no changes in the social restrictions that have already been in place for over two months in Auckland under alert level 3, Ardern said. The country reported 60 new Delta cases on Monday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2,005.

EUROPEAN UNION

Facebook plans to hire 10,000 for 'metaverse'

Facebook on Monday announced plans to hire 10,000 people in the European Union to build the "metaverse", a virtual reality version of the internet that the tech giant sees as the future. "As we begin the journey of bringing the metaverse to life, the need for highly specialized engineers is one of Facebook's most pressing priorities," the US company said, adding that the jobs will be created over the next five years.

Agencies - Xinhua