Mexico’s Congress has voted in favour of extending the presence of the military on the streets until 2028. Troops have been carrying out public security duties for years as part of Mexico’s war against drugs and the gangs which control their trade. But critics say extending the military’s duties for another four years further militarises the country. Rights groups say the militarisation of police duties has led to human rights abuses and further violence. But members of the president’s party argued that if the army were to be taken off the streets, Mexico’s population would be left at the mercy of organised crime gangs. The bill was passed after a marathon session in the Chamber of Deputies with 339 votes in favour and 155 against. It will still have to be passed by the legislatures of 31 states and the capital, Mexico City, to come into law, but the big hurdle was getting it approved in Congress.(BBC)…[+]

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been ordered to pay $965m (£869m) in damages after falsely claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax. The families of eight victims, and an FBI agent who responded to the attack, had sought at least $550m in the defamation trial in Connecticut. They alleged the right-wing radio host’s misinformation led to a decade of harassment and death threats. Twenty children and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Jones, who founded the conspiracy-laden Infowars website and talk show, argued for years that the massacre was a “staged” government plot to take guns from Americans and that “no-one died”. He called the parents of victims “crisis actors” and argued that some of them never actually existed.(BBC)…[+]

Two people have died after a shooting outside an LGBT venue in Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava. A third person was wounded in the attack on Wednesday evening near the Teplaren bar, close to the city centre. The suspected gunman was found dead on Thursday morning, police said. Information on his motive has not been released. However, local media reported that he had written social media posts indicating that he held views against LGBT and Jewish people. The young man was also identified in Slovak media as the son of a former candidate for a far-right political party. On Thursday, Prime Minister Eduard Heger condemned the attack, saying any form of extremism was unacceptable. Meanwhile, President Zuzana Caputova called on the country’s politicians to stop spreading hate. The apparent hate crime sparked renewed calls for an end to homophobia in Slovakia, a relatively conservative EU country where same-sex marriage is not permitted.(BBC)…[+]