Jury finds Dzhokhar Tsarnaev guilty of 2013 Boston bombings
Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev faces the death penalty after a jury unanimously convicted him Wednesday of carrying out the 2013 attack, the worst in the United States since the 9/11 Al-Qaeda hijackings.
The 12-person jury took a day and a half to find the 21-year-old former student guilty on all 30 counts related to the April 15, 2013, attacks, the murder of a police officer, a car jacking and shootout while on the run.
The Muslim immigrant of Chechen descent, who took US citizenship in 2012, now faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole when he is sentenced by the same jury at the second phase of the trial.
That phase could start early next week, Judge George O'Toole said.
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US police officer sacked after shooting dead fleeing black suspect
The white police officer who fatally shot a fleeing black man in the US city of North Charleston has been fired after he was charged with murder, the mayor said Wednesday.
Speaking at a highly charged press conference frequently interrupted by residents angered at America's latest high-profile police killing of a black man, Mayor Keith Summey said the city had moved quickly to fire the officer after Saturday's shooting.
In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he had not spoken to President Barack Obama about the case, but that video footage of the shooting was "awfully hard to watch."
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Tourists escape Thai ferry blaze
Scores of foreign tourists endured a dramatic sea rescue after a blaze devoured a ferry travelling between two resort hot spots in southern Thailand, police said Wednesday.
Speedboats raced to evacuate 117 passengers from the stricken vessel which started spewing smoke and flames on Wednesday afternoon, shortly after it left Krabi for the island of Phuket on the kingdom's Andaman sea.
Krabi police said no one was injured in the fire, although it was unclear if an Israeli woman was missing.
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Dust-covered ice glaciers found on Mars
Mars has thousands of glaciers buried beneath its dusty surface, enough frozen water to blanket the planet with a 1.1m thick layer of ice, scientists said on Wednesday.
The glaciers are found in two bands in the mid-southern and mid-northern latitudes.
Radar data, collected by Mars-orbiting satellites, combined with computer models of ice flows show the planet has about 150 billion cubic metres of water locked in the ice, according to a study published in this week's issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letter.
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Football: Messi, Suarez propel Barca seven points clear
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were on target as Barcelona moved seven points clear at the top of La Liga with a 4-0 win over Almeria on Wednesday.
The hosts took over half an hour to make the breakthrough, but Messi did so in style as he curled home his 44th goal of the season into the far corner.
Suarez made the game safe when he fired into the top corner 10 minutes after the break and bagged his second of the evening in stoppage time after Marc Bartra headed home the third from Xavi's corner.
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