BBC News with Jonathan Izard
Parliament in Cyprus has rejected an international bailout package which would have imposed a one-off tax on savings. Hundreds of protesters outside parliament cheered the result. Not a single MP voted for the deal despite an amendment sparing small savers. Mark Lowen is in Nicosia.
The bailout bill has been comprehensively rejected in parliament. Nobody voted in favor; 36 MPs voted against; 90 abstentions; one MP was absent from the chamber. Where does it go from here? Well, the whole bailout deal is in total disarray. Tomorrow there will be an emergency meeting between all the political party leaders and the president to try to hammer out some kind of plan B. There are frantic negotiations going on behind closed doors, between Cyprus and its international lenders. We know that the Cypriot president has been speaking to Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel but clearly the message has been that there has been a dramatic miscalculation along this way, in Brussels and here in Cyprus.
The former military ruler of Guatemala Efrain Rios Montt has gone on trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. The hearing in Guatemala City relates to the killing of 1,700 indigenous people when Mr. Rios Montt led the country in the early 1980s. The UN High Commission for Human Rights says it’s the first time a former head of state has faced such charges in a national court. Mr. Rios Montt who is 86 denies the allegations.
A South African police officer has told an inquiry that a colleague shot a miner as he lay on the ground during protests last year at the Marikana platinum mine in which 34 people were killed. It’s the first time a police officer’s evidence has backed claims that police shot, wounded, handcuffed and surrendering miners. From Johannesburg, here is Andrew Harding.
In a written statement, South African police officer Henric Milberg said he heard a gunshot and turned around to see another officer putting his pistol back in his holster. The officer was standing over the body of a miner who had been alive moments earlier. The officer then told Mr. Milberg that they deserved to die. This allegedly happened in the moments after police had opened fire on a crowd of striking workers at the Marikana mine last August. Thirty four people were killed that day.
The Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai has attended school for the first time since she was shot in the head last year by the Taliban for promoting girl education. She went to classes in the English city of Birmingham where she’s been receiving treatment for her injuries. Sangita Myska reports from the city.
The 15-year-old education campaigner has made a remarkable recovery here in Birmingham where her head has been fitted with a metal plate and cochlear implant. She is now well enough to attend the private girl school full time. The fees have been paid for by the Pakistani government. She said she’s thankful for the help she’s received from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the city and says putting on a school uniform is a sign that her life is getting back to normal.
BBC News
The Lower House of the Indian parliament has passed a bill containing harsher punishments for rapists including the death penalty. The bill was introduced after the fatal gang rape of a young woman on a bus in Delhi last December which caused international outrage and demands for tougher measures against offenders. The new laws also increase punishment for offenses including stalking and acid attacks.
The Saudi interior ministry says police have arrested 18 people on suspicion of spying including an Iranian and a Lebanese citizen, the others are all Saudis. A statement said they have been working for a foreign power but did not name any country.
Sepp Blatter, the head of international football federation FIFA has said that Brazil will be ready to host the World Cup next year despite a string of missed deadlines. Mr. Blatter said delays were normal in the run-up to a big tournament. Alex Capstick reports.
Sepp Blatter said the stop-start nature of Brazil’s preparations for the 2014 World Cup was normal for the buildup to such a big tournament. His message was don’t be afraid. Perhaps any fears he may have harbored had been quelled by Brazil’s Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo who was sitting alongside the head of world football. But Brazil has delivered only two of the six venues promised for this year’s Confederation’s Cup address rehearsal one year ahead of the World Cup. The deadline to complete Rio’s iconic Maracana Stadium has been repeatedly put back.
The Cuban government has announced that its doctors will get extra for nightshifts for the first time in 50 years. President Raul Castro admitted last year that doctors are badly paid earning an average 20 dollars a month. They will now get one extra dollar for the 12-hour night period.
A collection of ten dresses worn by Diana Princess of Wales have been sold at auction for 1.2 million dollars 16 years after her death. The highlight was a navy velvet ball gown worn by Diana when she danced with John Travolta at the White House in 1985. It went to a British collector who bought it as a surprised present for his wife.