The Dana airplane crashed into a two-story building in a residential area of Lagos, with at least 150 people on board. The commercial flight was traveling between Lagos and the Nigerian capital, Abuja. The head of the civil aviation authority said he doubted that there would be any survivors. There are yet no details of what caused the crash, which happened in overcast(阴天的) weather. The BBC’s Will Ross in Lagos.

 

 

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad addressed the Syrian parliament today amid international outrage of the Houla massacre. These were his first comment since the massacre that killed more than 100 people, many of them are children. He denied his government had anything to do with it, saying not even monsters would carry out such a crime.

 

 

Egyptian officials say prosecutors intend to appeal * acquittal(宣告无罪) of six senior police officers in the killings of hundreds of protesters during last year’s uprising. The judge had determined there wasn’t enough evidence against them. The same judge sentenced the post president Hosni Mubarak to life in prison. But he acquitted Mubarak and his two sons of corruption charges.

 

 

Hundreds of women demonstrated in Istanbul today, against an anti-abortion push by the government. NPR’s Peter Kenyon reports.

The hastily arranged rally was staged in a wake of sudden move to restrict abortion by the ruling AK party, whose leaders are deeply religiously Muslims. Asla says she was stunned by the speed with which the issue flared up.

I just couldn’t believe it. In Turkish Islam’s literature or politics, there has never been an abortion issue.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has compared abortion to murder. And the Health Ministry is reportedly drafting legislation to ban the procedure after four weeks with limited exceptions. Current law allows abortions up ten weeks after conception. Peter Kenyon, NPR news, Istanbul.

 

 

Attorneys for George Zimmerman say their client is back in police custody, that he surrendered himself this afternoon about 40 minutes before the deadline, at 2:30 eastern time. The neighborhood watch volunteer had been free on bail, bending his trial for killing unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. His bond was revoked last week. The judge determined he had lied when he said he had limited money. His lawyers say it was a misunderstanding.

 

 

Canadian police are looking for the man who opened fire in a busy mall in downtown Toronto yesterday. One person was killed, seven others were wounded. The shooting erupted in the crowded food court, prompting hundreds of panic shoppers to run for the access. 

 

 

This is NPR news.

 

 

A thousand boats floated down the River Thames in London today, escorting Queen Elizabeth. Larry Miller reports it is part of the Royal Jubilee Weekend, celebrating her 60 years on the British throne.

From a purple, red and gold royal barge, the Queen smiles and waves to the many thousands lining the River Thames, its banks and its bridges, serenaded(演奏小夜曲) appropriately by Handel's Water Music, written for the coronation barge of King George the first. As the Queen passes, spontaneously cheers, next to her majesty and four military regalia(王袍), her husband, Prince Philip, along with the Prince Charles and Camilla, grandsons Prince Harry and Prince William and his wife Kate. Among the vessels are canoes in *, even gondolas from Venice. There are also ten music barges with choirs, bagpipers and orchestra. For NPR news, I’m Larry Miller, in London.

 

 

British entertainer Richard Dawson died last night. American TV watchers in the 60’s will associate him with this theme. Dawson played one of the POWs on Hogan's Heroes, the cockney(伦敦腔) one. A decade later, he was the host of the game show Family Feud where families competed to guess the most popular answers in surveys. Besides saying the survey says, Dawson was known for kissing all the woman contestants. His son says he died from complications related to an esophageal(食道的) cancer, at Los Angeles Hospital last night. Richard Dawson was 79.