This year's E3 could prove to be a turning point - not just for gaming, but for the event itself.
Traditionally a place for studios to show off what they have been
working on, this year the gaming industry extravaganza has shaped up a
little differently.
Publisher EA has decided to run a separate
event aimed at gamers, while rival Activision is letting the console
companies promote its games, rather than having its own showcase.
"Usually
it has been a retail show connecting publishers with buyers, but that
is less relevant now due to the digital opportunities in gaming," said
Piers Harding-Rolls, director of games at consultancy IHS Technology.
"But E3 still has an important role to play. It's where people learn about new products coming to market."
And
plenty of studios have capitalised on the excitement around E3 to tease
their new releases, many squeezing out announcements before doors open
on 14 June.
Of course, if previous years are anything to go by, there are likely to be a few surprises during the week.
Harvey Smith has worked on critically acclaimed games including
cyberpunk role-playing adventure Deus Ex, and stealth-action thriller
Dishonored, which won the Bafta award for best game in 2013.
The BBC asked him to share the games he's most looking forward to at E3.
I'm a big fan of Adam Saltsman. His game Capsule - an incredibly tense
and claustrophobic space travel game - is sublime. Overland is a
thoughtful, soulful, post-apocalyptic road trip game with a beautifully
laconic art style. Every year, there's an indie game or two that just
feels like it was made for me. This year, it might be Overland
I really like Robin Hunicke's work and the art style is super cute - but
it goes beyond that. I love that you're not really sure what kind of
game it will be. It's the combination of looking sweet and naive on the
surface, but somehow hinting at something more complex and
sophisticated. I suspect it's a bit of a Trojan horse in that respect.
We play games for a variety of reasons. Some people play games to
demonstrate mastery over systems; some play to marvel at a reality
beyond ours; some play to feel a sense of wonder at the ecological
grandeur of the world. No Man's Sky promises all of that, seducing us
with unknown possibilities.
As one of the people to have participated in the genesis of the Deus Ex
brand of dystopia, I am full of hope for the new Deus Ex game. If it's
all I want it to be, it will present players with a gritty world gone
wrong, challenging moral terrain, and flexible game systems that lead to
improvisational "play" in the true sense of the word.
As a fan of often nihilistic zombie fiction, I was really drawn to State
of Decay. The original was a gem in the rough. The best thing about the
game was the way it kept enabling player-driven stories. So many times,
I got into a tight spot of my own making, then managed to get out of it
through creative play. Some moments left me sweating and yelling when I
got back to home base, and those moments were generally unscripted. If
the new game is more polished, this could be really strong.
I grew up watching spaghetti westerns. They're problematic, but they
occupy a mythic place in my soul. I loved Red Dead Redemption for its
pacing and exploration value - watching a good western is cool, but
inhabiting one is another thing entirely. I still miss my beautiful
horse, killed by a pair of mountain lions, both of which I shot dead and
skinned. I hope the developers took note of the stories players told
after engaging with the game.
Hardware reboot
Three
short years have passed since the PlayStation 4 (PS4) and Xbox One went
on sale, but there is an expectation that both consoles will soon be
refreshed.
In the past, Microsoft and Sony refined their consoles
during their lifecycles with cosmetic changes and occasionally some
useful upgrades such as a larger hard drive.
But this time round more significant changes are planned.
Sony revealed to the Financial Times on Friday that it is working on an upgraded PS4 codenamed Neo. It said it would be able to play games in 4K resolution - but would not be ready to unveil at E3.
Sony added it would be more expensive than the basic version, which will continue to be made, but did not say by how much.
"If
you look at the type of PC that is required to output 4K games, those
are really very powerful devices. I think that would thrust console
gaming into a different space in terms of the cost," said Mr
Harding-Rolls.
Virtual reality was expected to steal the show at last year's E3, but
despite high-profile backing from the likes of Facebook's Mark
Zuckerberg, gamers with VR headsets are still few and far between.
Headsets
such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are finally making their way onto
gamers' faces, so 2016 could be the year that blockbuster titles that
attract the masses are announced.
Sony's PlayStation VR is due out
in October - perhaps perfectly timed for the highly anticipated space
exploration game No Man's Sky to be revealed as a launch title.
Creator
Sean Murray has said it would be a "perfect fit" for VR, and it has
been tested in Oculus - but he has yet to reveal more.
Microsoft currently has no VR hardware of its own, instead focusing
on its Hololens augmented reality helmet, which superimposes graphics
over real-world views.
But the Xbox controller already works with
the Oculus Rift headset, and there is speculation that Microsoft will
announce a tie-up with the Oculus platform.
Microsoft has been looking at an open approach to VR, inviting
manufacturers to use its Windows platform to build their businesses on,"
said Mr Harding-Rolls.
"I think it would be a stretch to go from
those ideas, to announcing an exclusive agreement to bring a particular
VR headset manufacturer to Xbox One.
"But it has to put forward strategies to convince Xbox 360 users who haven't converted yet to upgrade."
And for the players?
The PS4
has pulled ahead of Xbox One in the console race, so gamers will be
watching Microsoft closely for exclusives. Gaming blogs have suggested
two series featuring the undead will be revived.
"We're expecting Dead Rising 4, and State of Decay 2 - both have
performed well on the Xbox platform before," said Tom Phillips, deputy
news editor at Eurogamer.
Some of last year's biggest
announcements - such as first-person shooter Gears of War 4, and
role-playing game Scalebound - have yet to be released.
Sony too
has yet to deliver on some of its previous announcements, such as The
Last Guardian, a fantasy-adventure about a boy who befriends a cat-bird
hybrid creature. It was first announced at E3 in 2009.
"The Last Guardian has achieved an almost mythical quality by this point," said Mr Phillips.
"It's
finally coming out this year, so hopefully it's the last time we'll see
it trailed at E3. But it does feel like when these big games do come
out, they are generally well received, as with Uncharted.
"This year, I think we'll see Sony hand over the stage to some of the games it has tie-ins with, such as Call of Duty."
The military-inspired shooter began as a Windows game in 2003, but now offers some add-on content to PlayStation gamers first.
It's shaping up to be a relatively quiet E3 for Nintendo, but it is
likely to attract attention with its much-delayed Legend of Zelda game,
with a new quest for the young sword-wielding hero Link.
It is one
of the bestselling series of all time, but the latest instalment has
been repeatedly delayed. First announced in 2014, is now tipped to be a
launch title for the NX console, and could end up being the last big
home-grown game Nintendo releases for the Wii U.
Not everything promised at E3 is successfully delivered.
Ubisoft
was criticised after its 2012 demo of Watch Dogs featured superior
graphics to those that appeared in the released console games. A San
Francisco-set sequel has been teased ahead of E3.
"First time round there was huge interest in the game, but it didn't quite live up to expectations," said Mr Phillips.
"Ubisoft has a history of having a good idea but not quite getting it right until the second release, as with Assassin's Creed.
"Hopefully with this sequel they have had time to refine it."
President Barack Obama has officially endorsed Hillary Clinton as the Democratic Party presidential nominee.
His endorsement came after meeting Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders who has been battling Mrs Clinton for the nomination.
Speaking in a video tweeted out by Mrs Clinton, Mr Obama said she may be the most qualified person "ever" for the role of president.
Leading liberal politician Elizabeth Warren also endorsed Mrs Clinton.
"I
am ready to get in this fight and work my heart out for Hillary Clinton
to become the next president of the United States," the Massachusetts
senator told MSNBC, "and to make sure that Donald Trump never gets any
place close to the White House."
President Obama and Mrs Clinton are set to start campaigning together soon.
"I
want those of you who've been with me from the beginning of this
incredible journey to be the first to know that 'I'm with Her.' I am
fired up and cannot wait to get out there and campaign for Hillary," Mr
Obama said in the video.
"Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders
may have been rivals during this primary, but they're both patriots who
love this country and they share a vision for the America that we all
believe in."
The two ran against one another for the Democratic nomination in 2008 and Mr Obama later made Mrs Clinton secretary of state.
Speaking to Reuters following the endorsement, Mrs Clinton said Mr Obama's endorsement "means the world".
"It
is absolutely a joy and an honour that President Obama and I, over the
years, have gone from fierce competitors to true friends," she said.
Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump tweeted that Mr Obama's endorsement means he wants "four more years of Obama" and "nobody else does".
To which came a much-retweeted reply from Mrs Clinton: "Delete your account."
Mr Obama has made his endorsement official
Barack Obama is now in the game. In a slickly produced video
endorsement, the president has thrown his support behind Hillary
Clinton's bid to keep the White House in Democratic hands.
Given the high production value of the video, the announcement had obviously been in the works for some time. In fact, astute observers have noted that Mr Obama is sporting the tie he wore on Tuesday.
Bernie
Sanders has said he will continue to campaign in Washington DC, leading
up to the capital city's primary next week - but expect most Democrats
to close ranks quickly. The Vermont senator even struck a more
conciliatory tone after a meeting at the White House, saying he looks
forward to "working together" with the former secretary of state to
defeat Donald Trump.
Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton will make their
first joint appearance together in Wisconsin next week. Before that
she's visiting Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The Democrats clearly view
the general election battleground as the industrial Rust Belt states.
And for the first time since 1988 there is a popular, scandal-free
second-term incumbent president working hard on the campaign trail to
preserve his legacy.
Muhammad Ali funeral: Rousing farewell at Louisville memorial
Rousing tributes have been paid to boxing legend Muhammad Ali at a memorial service in his home city of Louisville, Kentucky.
Muslim, Christian, Jewish and other speakers spoke of his fight for
civil rights, while a message from President Barack Obama praised his
originality.
The interfaith event took place hours after thousands said farewell as his coffin passed through city streets.
Ali was buried in a private ceremony attended by friends and family.
The ex-heavyweight champion and rights activist died last Friday aged 74.
The service, attended by dignitaries and by several thousand people who acquired free tickets, was held at the KFC Yum! Centre.
Former President Bill Clinton described Ali as "a free man of faith"
It started with a Koran reading in
Arabic. Imam Hamzah Abdul Malik recited Sura Fosselat, Prostration
chapter 41 verses 30-35, which includes the words: "Truly those who say
our Lord is God and are righteous, the angels will descend upon them
saying have neither fear nor sadness but rather rejoice in this paradise
that you have been promised."
Local Protestant minister Kevin Cosby
said: "Before James Brown said 'I'm black and I'm proud', Muhammad Ali
said 'I'm black and I'm pretty'."
Rabbi Michael Lerner attacked
injustice against black people and Muslims, saying "the way to honour
Muhammad Ali is to be Muhammad Ali today - speak out and refuse to
follow the path of conformity."
Lonnie Ali, Muhammad's wife, said her husband rewrote the rules he didn't like
Ali's wife Lonnie told the crowd: "If
Muhammad didn't like the rules, he rewrote them. His religion, his
beliefs, his name were his to fashion, no matter what the cost. Muhammad
wants young people of every background to see his life as proof that
adversity can make you stronger. It cannot rob you of the power to
dream, and to reach your dreams."
Former US President Bill Clinton
described Ali as "a free man of faith". He said: "I think he decided
very young to write his own life story. I think he decided that he would
not be ever disempowered. Not his race, not his place, not the
expectations of others whether positive or negative would strip from him
the power to write his own story."
Valerie Jarrett, an aide to President
Obama who knew the boxer personally, read a letter from the president
describing Ali as "bigger, brighter and more influential than just about
anyone in his era... Muhammad Ali was America. Muhammad Ali will always
be America. What a man." The president was not there, as he was
attending his eldest daughter Malia's graduation.
Comedian Billy Crystal said:
"Thirty-five years after he stopped fighting, [Ali was] still the
champion of the world. He was a tremendous bolt of lightning created by
Mother Nature. Muhammad Ali struck us in the middle of America's darkest
night and his intense light shone on America and we were able to see
clearly."
A Muhammad Ali action figure sits on the seat of a bicycle as fans await the funeral procession
Well-wishers threw flowers onto the hearse
The pallbearers, including Mike Tyson and Will Smith, loaded the coffin into the hearse for the procession
A Louisville city bus displays the words "Ali - The Greatest"
Among those attending the service were King Abdullah of Jordan.
Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended Thursday's prayer ceremony and
had been due at the service, but cut short his visit to the US. The
reasons for his departure are not clear, though there are reports of
differences with the funeral's organisers.
Rose petals
The
motorcade procession began at about 10:35 local time (14:35 GMT), more
than an hour behind schedule, and took the coffin past Ali's childhood
home, then the Ali Center, the Center for African American Heritage and
then down Muhammad Ali Boulevard.
Onlookers lining the roadside
waved, took photos and chanted "Ali, Ali" as a cortege led by the hearse
carrying his coffin drove through the downtown area.
Fans threw flowers at the hearse and rose petals were scattered along the route.
In
one neighbourhood, several young men ran alongside the vehicle carrying
a placard which read: "Ali is the greatest, thanks 4 all the memories."
The
cortege then brought the coffin to the Cave Hill cemetery, where
Muhammad Ali was buried in a private ceremony. Actor Will Smith and
ex-boxer Lennox Lewis were among the pallbearers.
In 1964, Ali famously converted to Islam, changing his name from Cassius Clay, which he called his "slave name".
He first joined the Nation of Islam, a controversial black separatist movement, before later converting to mainstream Islam.
In his boxing career, he fought a total of 61 times as a professional, losing five times and winning 37 bouts by knockout.
Soon after he retired, rumours began to circulate about the state of his health.
Parkinson's
Syndrome was eventually diagnosed but Ali continued to make public
appearances, receiving warm welcomes wherever he travelled.
He lit
the Olympic cauldron at the 1996 Games in Atlanta and carried the
Olympic flag at the opening ceremony for the 2012 Games in London.
He was crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC.
President Obama says he hopes the
Democrats "pull things together" after Hillary Clinton became the
party's presumptive nominee for president.
Her rival, Bernie Sanders, has vowed to fight on despite pressure to step down from party figures.
Mr
Obama stopped short of calling for Mr Sanders to drop out, instead
saying the Vermont senator had made Mrs Clinton a "better candidate".
The two men are due to meet at the White House later on Thursday.
Afterwards,
President Obama is tipped to formally endorse Mrs Clinton and call for
the party to unite against the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald
Trump.
Speaking on NBC's Tonight Show, Mr Obama admitted the race had been "ouchy".
But he went on to say this was welcome: "It was a healthy thing for the Democratic Party to have a contested primary.
"I
thought that Bernie Sanders brought enormous energy and new ideas. And
he pushed the party and challenged them. I thought it made Hillary a
better candidate."
He added: "My hope is, is that over the next couple of weeks, we're able to pull things together."
Mrs Clinton won four out of six primaries on Tuesday, giving Mr Sanders virtually no path to the nomination.
Despite this, he said he planned to "fight for every vote" in the
next primary - the last before the nomination convention next month.
Mr Trump has pitched to Mr Sanders' supporters:
"Bernie Sanders must really dislike Crooked Hillary after the way she
played him. Many of his supporters, because of trade, will come to me."
But Mr Sanders said his campaign would not support Mr Trump, "a candidate whose major theme is bigotry".
During his interview, Mr Obama said he was "worried" for the Republicans, saying the US needed a "healthy two-party system".
"The main role I`m gonna be playing in this process is to remind the American people that this is a serious job," he said.
"You
know, this is not reality TV. I've seen the decisions that have to be
made. And the work that has to be done," he added, in a clear barb aimed
at Mr Trump, a former star of TV series the Apprentice.
US election: Clinton set to cement hold on nomination
Hillary Clinton is hoping to claim
victory in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination after six
states have finished holding primaries.
The Associated Press says
Mrs Clinton has already reached the 2,383 delegates needed, taking into
account pledges of support from so-called superdelegates.
She looks set to win New Jersey but the race could be tighter in the other big prize state, California.
Rival Bernie Sanders insists it is too early to call the result.
Republicans
are also voting in the same states, except North Dakota, although
Donald Trump has already secured the party's nomination.
His
recent criticism of a Hispanic judge was condemned on Tuesday by
Republican house speaker Paul Ryan as the "textbook definition of racist
comments".
'Unprecedented moment'
Voting
is taking place in Democratic primaries in Montana (27 delegates), New
Mexico (43) and South Dakota (25), with a caucus in North Dakota (23).
California has 543 delegates and New Jersey 142.
The final primary is in Washington DC on 14 June. It has 45 delegates.
AP says its count has Mrs Clinton on 1,812 pledged delegates and 571 superdelegates.
US media organisations say this means she will now become the first female nominee for a major US political party.
Superdelegates
are party insiders who can pledge their support for a candidate ahead
of the convention but do not formally vote for them until the convention
itself.
Analysis - Katty Kay, presenter, BBC World News
It has taken a long 227 years to get even this far.
George
Washington was elected president of a newly independent America in
1789. Forty-two men later (41 of them white) Hillary Clinton makes
history today by being the first female nominee for the White House.
So why don't I feel more excited?
The lack of exuberance may come from the fact that this has all been going on for so long.
We've
really been reworking a version of the "first viable female candidate
for the presidency" story since 20 January 2007, the first time Hillary
Clinton declared her candidacy for the White House.
We're
exhausted. We've run out of superlatives. We've overused every anecdote
from the former first lady, former senator, former secretary's
well-covered life.
A woman president would be new, Hillary Clinton is not.
Why aren't we more excited about Clinton?
BBC
North America editor Jon Sopel says the AP announcement could actually
be a problem for Mrs Clinton, as it may depress turnout in Tuesday's
primaries and creates the impression that she has only won because of
the superdelegates and not the ordinary voters.
The Democratic
Party has a far larger number of superdelegates than the Republicans,
meaning a candidate would have to win 58.8% of primary and caucus votes
cast under the party's proportional system to win by pledged delegates
alone. Mrs Clinton has about 55% of the overall vote so far.
She did not claim victory after the AP announcement, telling
supporters in Long Beach, California, on Monday: "We are on the brink of
a historic and unprecedented moment but we still have work to do.
"We have six elections tomorrow and we're going to fight hard for every single vote, especially right here in California."
Mrs
Clinton received another boost on Tuesday when the influential
Democratic politician and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi endorsed
her for president.
Outsider's campaign
Bernie Sanders is hoping for a victory in California to keep his campaign going to the party convention.
The Vermont senator has commanded huge crowds at his rallies, many of
them younger voters, pledging action on income inequality, minimum
wages and student tuition fees.
Reacting to the AP announcement,
Sanders team spokesman Michael Briggs said the media "is wrong to count
the votes of superdelegates before they actually vote at the convention
this summer."
He said Mr Sanders would attempt to win back superdelegates.
But
the BBC's Anthony Zurcher says Mr Sanders has been running an
outsider's anti-establishment campaign that has not generated much
enthusiasm among the Democratic power players and long-time party
stalwarts who comprise the bulk of the superdelegates.
AP reports White House officials as saying that Mr Obama is preparing
to endorse Mrs Clinton in the next few days, although the announcement
would come after Tuesday's primaries.
Mr Obama telephoned Mr Sanders on Sunday, AP said. The contents of the call have not been revealed.
'Textbook definition'
Meanwhile,
Mr Trump has faced a barrage of criticism from within the Republican
Party over his comments last week that Mexican-American US District
Judge Gonzalo Curiel was biased against him.
Mr Trump said Judge
Curiel, who is overseeing lawsuits against Trump University, would not
treat him fairly because he was a Mexican opposed to his plans to build a
wall between the US and Mexico.
Mr Ryan said he regretted Mr
Trump's comments, saying "claiming a person can't do their job because
of their race is sort of like the textbook definition of a racist
comment".
But he said it had not affected his decision to back Mr
Trump's candidacy. "We have more likelihood of getting our policies
enacted with him that we do with [Hillary Clinton]," he said.
Prof Kelli Burns has denied saying
she believes Facebook is listening to people's conversations via the
microphones on their smartphones.
In a news story that went viral this week it was reported that she had said key words around her phone which then appeared on Facebook.
Prof Burns says there was a practical explanation for what had happened.
Facebook has previously told the BBC it does not allow brands to target advertising based on microphone data.
It did not comment on the latest story.
Prof
Burns, a social media expert from the University of South Florida, sat
with a reporter from US-based News Channel 8 and mentioned African
safaris and the car brand Jeep.
When she checked her Facebook news
feed, the first post on her timeline was from a friend who had written
about an African safari which someone had commented on three hours
earlier.
"Nowhere have I heard anything about Facebook serving you
your friends' posts based on what you are saying or Googling," she
said.
"This friend has a lot of friends, and gets a lot of engagement, it's no surprise that it would be at the top of my feed."
She also saw an advert for Volkswagen, which is the brand of vehicle she owns herself.
"Although
the angle of the story was supportive of the idea that Facebook uses
the microphone I never made the claim that I believe that is happening,
or that my one experiment with a reporter was in any way proof of that
happening," she added.
She said she feels the story has been
"blown out of proportion" but that she has since heard from other people
who believe it has also happened to them.
"I believe there are a
lot of strange circumstances and coincidences out there and people are
looking for those," said Prof Burns.
"The fact that this story has gone global says a lot about people's concerns about privacy.
"I am not a scientist or a privacy expert - but I never said in that story that I believe Facebook can hear you."
BBC experiment
Earlier this year, the BBC performed its own experiment with several Android smartphones to see if it was possible to turn them into eavesdropping devices.
Security
experts managed to create an app that could listen in to conversations
for prolonged periods without draining the phone's battery.
When quizzed, both Google and Facebook denied that they would use such a capability to tailor adverts and content for users.
Facebook
also said that its ads are based only around information shared by
members on the social network and their net surfing habits elsewhere.
The River Seine in Paris is at its highest level for more than 30 years,
with floods forcing closed parts of the metro systems and major
landmarks.
The Louvre and Orsay museums were shut while staff moved artworks to safety as flood levels climbed above 6m (18ft).
The Seine is set to reach as high as 6.5m and unlikely to recede over the weekend, with more downpours forecast.
At least 15 people have died across central Europe as heavy rainfall caused flooding from France to Ukraine.
While two people died in France, 10 were killed in southern Germany as several towns were devastated.
Two more fatalities were reported in Romania and one in Belgium. Austria, the Netherlands and Poland have also been affected.
Tens of thousands of people have been forced from their homes.
The flooding could cost French insurance companies more than 600
million euros (£470m), according to the industry association AFA.
In
Paris, the Cluny - La Sorbonne and St Michel metro stations were closed
as a precaution while the river spilled onto the city's streets.
Bridges
were closed and non-emergency boats were banned from the Seine as its
swelling forced the closure of museums, parks and cemeteries.
At
the Louvre, curators scrambled to move 250,000 artworks to higher ground
from basement storage areas at risk of inundation from what President
Francoise Hollande called "exceptional flooding".
Authorities have even taken initial steps to transfer the presidency
and key ministries to secure areas, AP news agency reported.
An apparent equipment fault led to the river's depth being wrongly measured for several hours on Friday.
Many
locals have preferred to benchmark the rise against the statue of a
soldier - known as the Zouave - standing below the Alma bridge: His
frame is currently submerged up to the waist.
While France's rainfall levels in May were the highest since 1873, the current crisis is eclipsed by the 1910 floods that saw Paris submerged for two months, when the Zouave was up to his neck in the Seine.
The river level peaked at 8.62m that year, and has since reached 7.1m in 1955 and 6.18m in 1982.
A court in India has found 24 people
guilty of involvement in one of the most notorious massacres during the
2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat.
The special court acquitted 36 others in the so-called Gulbarg Society killings in Ahmedabad city.
A mob attacked the complex, hacking and burning 69 people to death.
The
riots were some of the worst since Indian independence. More than 1,000
people, mostly Muslims, died after a train fire killed 60 Hindu
pilgrims.
Muslims were blamed for starting the train fire, and
Hindu mobs eager for revenge went on the rampage through Muslim
neighbourhoods in towns and villages across Gujarat during three days of
violence that followed.
Critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the state chief minister at the time, say he did little to stop the riots. In pictures: Inside Gulbarg Society
The
Gulbarg residential complex in Ahmedabad was one of the targets where
many Muslims were burnt to death and their properties set on fire.
On
Thursday, 11 people were convicted of murder in connection with the
attack, while the others were found guilty of lesser charges.
Among those convicted is a local leader of the hardline Hindu group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
Sentencing is scheduled for Monday.
Gulbarg Society killings
69 people died in the attack on 28 February 2002
Bungalows and flats in the society were looted and burnt
66 people were accused in connection
with the massacre - six died before and during the trial and one is
still being sought by police
The trial began on 7 September 2009
338 witnesses, including eight women, were examined
Judge PB Desai said there was no evidence that the attack was planned
and dropped charges of criminal conspiracy against the accused.
Ehsan Jafri, a prominent Muslim politician and a former Congress party MP, was among those killed.
Survivors of the Gulbarg massacre say he fired his gun in self-defence as the mob attacked the complex.
Zakia Jafri, the MP's widow, says her husband called Mr Modi for help but it never came.
Mr
Modi has always denied any wrongdoing and has not apologised for the
riots. A Supreme Court panel also refused to prosecute him in 2013,
citing insufficient evidence.
The violence was initially investigated by the Gujarat police and
subsequently by an independent Special Investigation Team (SIT)
appointed by the Supreme Court in 2008.
The Gulbarg massacre was among 10 key incidents in the riots being investigated by the SIT.
Some of these cases have brought convictions.
In
August 2012, a court sentenced 31 people, including Maya Kodnani, an
ex-minister and aide to the then chief minister Narendra Modi, to life
for their part in murdering 97 people in Naroda Patiya, a suburb of
Ahmedabad. Ms Kodnani was granted bail on health grounds in 2014.
In
April 2012, a court sentenced 18 people to life imprisonment for the
murder of 23 Muslims in Ode village in Anand district. Five others were
given seven years and another 23 were acquitted.
In November 2011, a court sentenced 31 people to life in prison for burning to death 33 Muslims near Sardarpura village.
US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has reacted angrily
after a leading golf tournament was moved from one of his courses to
Mexico.
The PGA Tour said it could not find sponsors to hold the 2017 World Golf Championship at Mr Trump's Doral course in Miami.
Mr Trump said the PGA had "put profit ahead of thousands of American jobs".
On the campaign trail, Mr Trump has portrayed Mexico as undermining the US economy.
Why has Trump caught Clinton in the polls?
PGA Tour commissioner Timothy Finchem said Mr Trump's current profile had made it "difficult" to attract sponsors.
"It's fundamentally a sponsorship issue," said Mr Finchem.
Luxury car maker Cadillac has reportedly not renewed its sponsorship deal.
"Donald
Trump is a brand, a big brand, and when you're asking a company to
invest millions of dollars in branding a tournament and they're going to
share that brand with the host, it's a difficult decision," he said.
However,
Mr Finchem insisted the decision to move the event to Mexico City from
Florida, where it has been held for the past 55 years, was not
political.
"From a golf standpoint we have no issues with Donald
Trump. From a political standpoint we are neutral. PGA Tour has never
been involved or cares to be involved in presidential politics," he
added.
The PGA Tour has signed new seven-year sponsorship deal
with Grupo Salinas, and the first WGC-Mexico Championship will held in
March next year.
Mr Trump said the decision marked a "sad day for Miami, the US and the game of golf".
"This decision only further embodies the very reason I am running for president of the United States," he said.
The
venue for the event has not been officially confirmed, but media
reports say it will take place at the Club de Golf Chapultapec outside
Mexico City.
"I hope they have kidnapping insurance," Mr Trump told Fox News.
Mr Finchem said that a member of his staff had already confirmed that this was in place.
"I haven't inquired about the detail," he said. "But I made the point that maybe that's something we don't want to advertise."
The European Union should abandon
its "utopian dreams" of ever-closer integration to combat rising
Euroscepticism, Donald Tusk has said.
The president of the
European Council said EU leaders should concentrate on practical
measures such as reinforcing borders and a banking union.
Mr Tusk warned of "dramatic consequences" if Britain left the EU.
He urged Europe's leaders to match the energy and endeavours of those who wanted to break up the union.
Meanwhile,
Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has warned that the consequences
of an exit vote in the UK's EU referendum later this month would be
"very negative for British citizens".
In a speech in Madrid, he
said people from the UK would lose their right to move freely, work and
do business in the largest economic area in the world.
More than 300,000 Britons are resident in Spain, about 35% of whom are retired.
"There is no worse prospect for the European economy than the omen of
a triumph of anti-liberal and Eurosceptic political forces, whether
left or right," Mr Tusk told business leaders in Brussels.
"We must and can avoid this scenario," he said.
Mr Tusk chairs the meetings of EU leaders when they gather as the European Council in Brussels.
His
latest plea for Britain to remain part of the EU club follows a warning
by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that the
UK's economy would suffer "a large negative shock" if it left.
John Longworth, from the UK's Vote Leave campaign, criticised the OECD's report as "flawed".
In May Mr Tusk said the only alternative to the EU was "chaos" and criticised high-profile Leave campaigner Boris Johnson's comments comparing the EU's aims to Hitler's
.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said he would "cancel"
the Paris climate deal in his first major speech on energy policy.
More than 195 countries pledged to reduce carbon emissions in a landmark agreement last year.
The billionaire businessman has said before there is no evidence that humans are responsible for climate change.
He called for more drilling, fewer regulations and the approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada.
"Any
regulation that's outdated, unnecessary, bad for workers or contrary to
the national interest will be scrapped and scrapped completely," Mr
Trump said.
"We're going to do all this while taking proper regard for rational environmental concerns."
Donald Trump's desire to see the end of US participation in the Paris
climate agreement is increasing the pressure for a rapid ratification
around the world.
But that's not easy as the process can often
get bogged down in national parliaments. The Obama administration and
others believe they are well on the way to securing that level of
support which they feel would then make a US withdrawal, in the face of
global condemnation, much less likely. But they could be dead wrong
about that.
Mr
Trump though doesn't have to go to such lengths to end US involvement.
He could choose to ignore or reverse or delay Obama's initiatives on
climate including the Clean Power Plan. The real strength of the Paris
agreement is that it comes from the bottom up, countries decide for
themselves what their emissions cutting commitments will be. But this
could also be a huge weakness.
If a President Trump doesn't put
emissions cutting regulations into place, no one could force him to.
Would China or India and others continue to cut their carbon while the
US did not? Unlikely.
Before this speech, he had said he would "renegotiate" the global
agreement involving nearly all countries, but this time he went further
and said the US would pull out.
The climate change deal is "bad
for US business" and said the pact allows "foreign bureaucrats control
over how much energy we use".
Under the deal, countries set emission limits themselves, not an outside panel.
Mr Trump has called climate change "a hoax" devised by the Chinese government.
It is uncertain whether Mr Trump, if elected, could actually make any changes to the deal.
The accord will have legal force once it is ratified by 55 countries that contribute 55% of global emissions.
If the deal is ratified by January, a new American president would have to wait four years to withdraw from the deal.
While the US is the second-largest greenhouse gas polluter, it has
been instrumental in helping other countries such as India reduce
emissions.
Mr Trump said on Friday that the US would stop funding these efforts.
Environmental advocates called Mr Trump's proposals "frightening".
"Trump's
energy policies would accelerate climate change, protect corporate
polluters who profit from poisoning our air and water, and block the
transition to clean energy that is necessary to strengthen our economy
and protect our climate and health," Tom Steyer, a billionaire
environmental activist, told Reuters.
On Thursday, he officially became the presidential nominee for his party, surpassing the 1,238 delegates required.
Mr Obama said the memory of 6 August 1945 must never fade, but did
not apologise for the US attack - the world's first nuclear bombing.
Mr Obama spoke to two survivors and in an address called on nations to pursue a world without nuclear weapons.
At least 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and another 74,000 three days later in a second bombing in Nagasaki.
Best of friends'
Mr Obama first
visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum before walking to the Peace
Memorial Park, accompanied by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Both men stood in front of the eternal flame. Mr Obama laid a wreath first, followed by Mr Abe
Death fell from the sky and the world was changed," Mr Obama said in
his address, noting that the bombing had shown that "mankind possessed
the means to destroy itself".
Mr Obama said the memory of
Hiroshima must never fade: "It allows us to fight complacencies, fuels
our moral imagination and allows us to change."
Of nuclear weapons, he said: "We must have the courage to escape the logic of fear and pursue a world without them."
Mr Obama then spoke to two survivors, hugging 79-year-old Shigeaki Mori.
"The president gestured as if he was going to give me a hug, so we hugged," Mr Mori said.
Mr Obama also talked to Sunao Tsuboi, 91.
Symbols and codes - BBC's John Sudworth in Hiroshima
The
image of President Obama hugging a survivor will resonate deeply with
the Japanese public. Opinion polls show that the majority of people
welcome this visit and most, it seems, do not mind either about the
absence of an apology.
The deep symbolism is enough; the leader of
the only country ever to have used an atomic weapon laying a wreath in a
city that has become a monument to the perils of our nuclear age.
But
others will point out that, while his speech was long on lofty
idealism, he remains the commander in chief of one of the world's
largest nuclear arsenals, one that he has approved billions of dollars
to modernise.
Standing just a few rows away from the president, as
he always does, an officer could be seen holding the briefcase
containing the nuclear launch codes. Mr Obama had earlier flown into the nearby Iwakuni Marine Corp base nearby, after leaving the G7 summit.
Mr
Obama told service personnel at the base: "This is an opportunity to
honour the memory of all who were lost during World War Two."
Mr
Obama praised the US-Japan alliance as "one of the strongest in the
world", with his visit "a testament to how even the most painful divides
can be bridged - how our two nations, former adversaries, cannot just
become partners, but become the best of friends and the strongest of
allies".
Many in the US believe the use of the nuclear bomb, though
devastating, was right, because it forced Japan to surrender, bringing
an end to World War Two.
The daughter of one survivor, who was visiting the memorial on Friday, said the suffering had "carried on over the generations".
"That
is what I want President Obama to know," Han Jeong-soon, 58, told the
Associated Press news agency. "I want him to understand our sufferings."
Seiki
Sato, whose father was orphaned by the bomb, told the New York Times:
"We Japanese did terrible, terrible things all over Asia. That is true.
And we Japanese should say we are sorry because we are so ashamed, and
we have not apologised sincerely to all these Asian countries. But the
dropping of the atomic bomb was completely evil."
India's foreign ministry says it is
looking into an alleged attack on a Nigerian student by a local man in
the southern city of Hyderabad.
Police said 26-year-old Bamilola Kazim was allegedly assaulted by Mohammed Gafoor after a row on Wednesday
Mr Kazim was treated for wounds at a local hospital and released.
Last
week a student from the Democratic Republic of Congo was beaten to
death by a group of Indian men after an argument in Delhi.
Two men have been arrested in connection with the killing of the Congolese man.
Indian
foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted on Friday that
Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj "had urgently sought report" on
Wednesday's incident from the local government "and is monitoring the
case".
Police said Mr Kazim allegedly parked his car in front of
Mr Gafoor's house, and was attacked with an iron rod by the latter after
an altercation.
Hyderabad police officer K Srinivas told BBC
Hindi's Imran Qureshi that the two men had "reached some understanding"
after Mr Gafoor was arrested and released on bail.
Gideon Omodowale of the local Nigerian Students Association said it was a "small issue".
"He [Mr Gafoor] has apologised and we have also forgiven him. It happens," he told the BBC.
There are more than 4,000 students from African countries in Hyderabad.
Following
last week's killing of an African student in Delhi, a group of African
embassies had said they did not want to participate in Africa Day
celebrations on Thursday because of repeated attacks on African students
in India.
They relented after Ms Swaraj promised to ensure the safety of African students in India.
Mr
Swarup said the Indian government had received news from its embassy in
Kinshasa, the capital of Democratic Republic of Congo, that some
"Indian establishments and shops were attacked on 23 and 25 May as a
reaction perhaps to the killing of the Congolese national" in Delhi.
"It has been reported that by Wednesday, things have calmed down," Mr Swarup was quoted as saying by The Hindu newspaper.
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have not yet commented on the remarks.
In February, a Tanzanian student was assaulted and partially stripped by a mob in the southern city of Bangalore.
A top cyber-security firm is investigating whether North Korea could be linked to attacks on banks in recent months.
Symantec said
it had evidence that the same group attempted to steal money from a
bank in the Philippines, one in Vietnam and Bangladesh's central bank.
It also said the rare malware deployed was similar to that used in the hacking of Sony Pictures in 2014.
The US government said North Korea was behind the Sony hack.
If
North Korea is found to be behind the bank attacks, it would be the
first time a country has been detected stealing money in a cyber-attack,
Symantec's technical director Eric Chien told Reuters.
In February this year, hackers stole $81m (£55m) from the central bank of Bangladesh.
According
to Symantec, it was the same group that attempted to steal $1m from the
Tien Phong Bank in Vietnam and attacked a bank in the Philippines.
In
addition, the code shares similarities with malware used by the group
known as Lazarus which has been accused of various attacks on the US and
South Korea, including the attacks against Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Hard task: By Mark Ward, BBC Technology correspondent
On the internet, no-one knows if you are a dog and they have an equally difficult time working out what kind of cyber thief you are too.
It
is common for online criminals to take attack code from other groups
and bend it to their own malign purposes. They do it to cover their
tracks and because what worked well against one target might work for
them too.
That code-sharing is less true when it comes to
nation-state attacks which is why some security firms will name those
they believe are behind these relatively rare intrusions. Typically the
code used in these attacks is more about stealthy spying than outright
theft so is less useful to those after cash.
But that is not the
case here as the code has been used to target bank networks and go after
huge amounts of money. But it is difficult to be sure because code is
code and once it is widely disseminated online it becomes harder to see
who is behind the keyboard.
Brazilian police are hunting more
than 30 men suspected of raping a teenage girl in Rio de Janeiro, and of
putting video of the attack on social media.
The girl, 16,
believes she was doped after going to her boyfriend's house on Saturday
and says she woke up in a different house, surrounded by the men.
Arrest warrants have been issued, including one for the boyfriend.
The assault has provoked an online campaign against what campaigners call a culture of rape in Brazil.
Conflicting
versions of the story are still coming in, but the alleged rape is said
to have taken place in a poor community in western Rio over the
weekend.
According to a statement she is reported to have given to
police, she woke up on Sunday, naked and wounded, and made her way
home.
Only days later did she find out that some of the alleged rapists had put images of the attack on Twitter.
A 40-second-video was widely shared and followed by a wave of misogynistic comments, before the users' accounts were suspended.
Speaking to local media, the girl's grandmother said the family watched the video and cried.
"I regretted watching it. When we heard the story we didn't believe
what was happening. It's a great affliction. It's a depressing
situation," she told Folha de S.Paulo newspaper.
"She is not well. She is very confused. This was very serious."
The
attack has shocked Brazil, says the BBC's Julia Carneiro, and campaign
groups have been already been calling for protests over the coming days.
There has also been an outpouring of anger on social media, under the hashtag #EstuproNuncaMais (Rape never again).
A collective of journalists posted a satirical image of citizens
donning devil's horns, condemning a rape victim for having provoked the
attack.
The inscription reads "No to sexism", and the images,
clockwise from top right: "But look at her clothes…", "She deserved
it!", "16 years old and already has a son…", "Apparently she was on
drugs". The United Nations group UN Women issued a statement calling for
authorities to investigate the case, but to respect the victim and not
victimise her once more by invading her privacy.
Experts say many
cases of rape in Brazil go unreported as victims fear retaliation,
shame, and blame for the violence they have suffered.
While in Vietnam, Mr Obama is expected to meet dissidents and make the case for Vietnam to remove obstacles to theUS-led Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)free trade deal.
Ben Rhodes, Mr Obama's deputy national security adviser, said before the visit that talks on removing the United States' embargo on selling arms to Vietnam would be discussed.
Doing so would allow Vietnam to bolster its defences at a time of territorial disputes with its neighbour China, which was unhappy with apartial lifting of the ban in 2014.
However, White House officials indicated the ban would be lifted only if there was an improvement in human rights in Vietnam.
On Friday, Mr Obama will tour Hiroshima, where a US nuclear bomb was detonated in 1945, killing at least 140,000 people.
In an interview with Japanese broadcaster NHK on Friday, Mr Obama said he would not apologise during his remarks in Hiroshima.
"It's important to recognise that in the midst of war, leaders make all kinds of decisions, it's a job of historians to ask questions and examine them," he said.
"But I know, as somebody who's now sat in this position for the last seven-and-a-half years, that every leader makes very difficult decisions, particularly during wartime."