Relatives of victims of the South Carolina mass shooting addressed suspect Dylann Roof in court Friday. They offered him forgiveness.
"May God have mercy on your soul," said the mother of the youngest victim, 26-year-old Tywanza Sanders.
"We are the family that love built," another relative said. "We have no room for hate."
Twenty-one-year-old Dylann Roof was charged with the murders of nine people in the shooting at a church in Charleston. All the victims were black. The suspect is white.
The governor of South Carolina described the shooting as a hate crime. She said she wants the state to seek the death penalty.
Yemen talks in Geneva end without deal
Representatives of Yemen’s government and the rebel Houthi group held their first direct talks this week in Geneva, Swtizerland. The United Nations special diplomat for Yemen said the two sides did not reach a cease-fire deal. He expressed hope that such an agreement can be reached with more meetings.
20 Militants Killed in Pakistan Airstrikes
Military officials in Pakistan say at least 20 militants were killed Friday in an airstrike in a northwestern border area.
A short statement said fighter planes targeted remote areas in the Khyber tribal agency near the Afghan border. The statement also said "about 18 terrorists" were wounded.
The historic Khyber pass serves as one of only two trade and transit routes between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Family Members of First MERS Patient in Thailand Receiving Tests
Two more foreigners in Thailand are being tested for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.
The two are relatives of an infected man from Oman. They had traveled with the man Monday to Thailand where he was to seek treatment for a heart condition.
All the man’s family members have been isolated at an infectious diseases center outside Bangkok.
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Words in the News
address – v. to speak to (a person or group)
isolated – adj. separate from others