In a significant development in the United States, 71-year-old Douglas Stewart Carter, who spent 41 years on death row for a 1985 murder, has been released on bail after newly analysed DNA evidence failed to link him to the crime. Carter was convicted of killing Eva Olesen in Provo, Utah, after police obtained a confession he later said was coerced. His conviction also relied on two witnesses who claimed he had boasted about the killing.
In the UK, Counter Terrorism Police have found a quantity of petrol in three vans searched near RAF Fairford, a US-operated airbase in western England, after five men were arrested over a suspected terrorist plot. The five British nationals, aged between 23 and 25, were arrested early on Sunday after a member of the public reported three suspicious vehicles and a group of hooded and masked men near Whelford, east of the base.
Andy Burnham, Britain's prime minister, has proposed ending the existing state pension triple lock from 2030 as part of plans to fund a new national care service in England. Under the proposed system, pensions would continue to rise annually by at least inflation or 2.5 percent, but would no longer be automatically linked to average earnings. Burnham said the change could generate significant savings to support his social care plans.
In France, Patrick Branco Ruivo, chief executive of the company that operates the Eiffel Tower, will step down at the end of the year after an investigation found operational failures during a visit by a Hindu religious delegation that led to female staff being removed from their positions. About 100 people linked to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha group visited the Paris landmark earlier this month.
In Uganda, Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma has been crowned King Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma Nyabongo I of Uganda's Tooro kingdom after a succession process that followed the death of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV. Kijanangoma, 56, was previously known as a journalist, having worked for Uganda's state broadcaster as an anchor and editor. He now takes over one of Uganda's four officially recognised historical kingdoms.
Morocco has appointed its first female prime minister, Fatima Zahra El Mansouri, after her centrist Authenticity and Modernity Party won the most seats in last week's parliamentary election. King Mohammed VI appointed El Mansouri, 50, over Fouzi Lekjaa, a senior politician from the same party and Morocco's football federation chief. El Mansouri has served as mayor of Marrakesh and was a minister in the previous coalition government.
In other news, Caleb Flynn, a former Ohio music pastor who appeared on American Idol, has been convicted of murdering his wife, Ashley Flynn, who was shot twice in the back of the head while sleeping at their home in February. A jury in Ohio also found Flynn guilty of eight other charges, including aggravated murder and tampering with evidence. He faces life imprisonment without parole following a trial that lasted eight days.
Key points
- Morocco appoints first female prime minister
- Man freed after 41 years on US death row
- UK authorities investigate suspected terrorist plot near RAF Fairford
