Bid for life sentence

BOSTON: The Boston Marathon bombing trial defence attorneys are set to wrap up their argument this week that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, should be sentenced to life in prison, rather than death.

The federal jury last month found Tsarnaev guilty of killing three people and wounding 264 others with a pair of bombs in 2013.

His attorneys contend that he was a secondary player in a scheme driven by his late 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan. – Reuters

Airbus grounded

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has grounded its Airbus A400M military transport plane following a crash involving a similar aircraft in Spain at the weekend.

The Royal Malaysian Air Force received the first of four A400M aircraft in March.

An Airbus A400M crashed outside Seville on Saturday, killing four test crew. Britain and Germany also grounded their plane. – Reuters

Soccer heart attacks

BRUSSELS: A Belgian defender, Tim Nicot, 23, died yesterday after suffering a heart attack during a matchon Saturday, the second such death in Belgium in two weeks.

The incident is likely to increase calls for cardiac screening of young players.

On April 30, former defender Gregory Mertens, 24, died three days after his heart stopped during a match for Lokeren. – Reuters

Cameron confident

LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday that renegotiating Britain’s relationship with the EU would be tough, but his decisive election victory last week had given him a mandate.

“We have got a mandate, it will be tough, obviously, but we have got a mandate,” Cameron said before addressing his MPs in parliament to applause and cheers . – Reuters

Kidnapped men freed

GHAZNI: Nineteen Afghan men from among 31 kidnapped by gunmen from a bus in February were freed yesterday by their captors, and the rest could be released soon, officials said.

The men are Hazaras, members of a Shia ethnic minority persecuted under the Taliban movement’s Sunni Islamist rule. Officials would not elaborate on the deal to free the men. – Reuters

Saudi king quits talks

WASHINGTON: Saudi Arabia did not raise concerns about the agenda for a coming regional summit to be hosted by US President Barack Obama at Camp David before or after the Saudi king decided not to attend, the White House said yesterday.

A spokesman said the US was confident Saudi officials would ably represent their country and implement any decisions made. – Reuters