Briefly

UNITED STATES

Six dead in Mississippi shooting rampage

A gunman killed six people in the southern US state of Mississippi on Friday, prompting President Joe Biden to call again for tightened gun restrictions only days after he pleaded for action following a deadly university shooting. Police in Mississippi said a man shot and killed a person at a store in the small town of Arkabutla, then went to a nearby house and killed a woman, according to local media. The Tate County Sheriff's Office said the shooter was in custody and charged with first-degree murder.

Ex-officers plead not guilty in Nichols case

Five former Memphis police officers pleaded not guilty on Friday to second-degree murder and other charges in the violent arrest and death of Tyre Nichols. They made their first court appearances with their lawyers before a judge in Shelby County Criminal Court. The officers were fired after an internal police investigation into the Jan 7 arrest of Nichols, who died in a hospital three days later.

BULGARIA

18 bodies found in truck; six charged

Bulgarian prosecutors have charged six people with human trafficking after 18 Afghan migrants were found dead inside a truck dumped on a dirt road near the capital Sofia on Friday. Prosecutors said the truck was abandoned near the village of Lokorsko after the driver and his companion found that many of the 52 migrants in the hidden compartments of the truck, which were isolated with foil, were dizzy and some had already died. The truck driver and his companion were also charged over the deaths of the migrants, prosecutors said.

Agencies - Xinhua