Zuckerberg: Data scandal breach of trust

A man enters his Facebook page, at a restaurant in Brasilia, Brazil. Photo / AP file

Americans are less likely to trust Facebook than its rivals on personal data: Reuters/Ipsos poll https://t.co/iV2tw6V4F7 pic.twitter.com/lyMU72w0U3

— Reuters (@Reuters) March 25, 2018

Facebook: Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has apologised for the Cambridge Analytica scandal with ads in multiple US and British newspapers, saying the social media platform doesn't deserve to hold personal information if it can't protect it. The ads signed by Zuckerberg said a quiz app built by a Cambridge University researcher leaked Facebook data of millions of people four years ago. "This was a breach of trust, and I'm sorry we didn't do more at the time. We're now taking steps to make sure this doesn't happen again," the ads said.

Mexico: Autopsies indicate an Iowa couple and their two children died from inhaling toxic gas at a rented condo on Mexico's Caribbean coast, but there was no sign of foul play or suicide, Mexican authorities said. The prosecutors' office in the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo said the type of gas hadn't yet been determined, but added that "any violent act or suicide has been discounted."

Japan: Three climbers have been killed and four others injured after they fell from a mountain ridge in central Japan, local media report. The seven climbers who were roped together are believed to have fallen about 100m as they headed towards the 2805m peak of Mount Amida in the Yatsugatake mountain range, Kyodo News agency reported. A climber walking near the group reported the incident to police. One of the injured told medical workers at the hospital that "the climber at the front slipped, then everybody fell off the ridge", Kyodo reported, citing hospital officials.

3 climbers dead after falling from mountain ridge in central Japan https://t.co/S9OufYvZ61

— JapanTopNews.cloud (@Japan_topnews) March 25, 2018

Nigeria: The Government is in talks with Islamist militant group Boko Haram about a possible ceasefire, with the ultimate aim of securing a permanent cessation of hostilities, Information Minister Lai Mohammed says. It is the first time in years that the Government has said it is talking to Boko Haram about a ceasefire in an insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of people and ravaged the northeast of a country that has Africa's biggest economy.

United States: A cellphone video has surfaced of a Texas sheriff's deputy fatally shooting an unarmed black man who had his pants around his ankles as he failed to listen to officers and continued to approach them. The Houston Chronicle obtained a civilian witness's video of Friday's shooting. The recording cuts out as the Harris County deputy shoots because of a car passing in front of the cellphone. A spokesman for the sheriff's office says the man, identified as Danny Ray Thomas, had an object in his hand, but no weapon was recovered.

In Texas, a Harris County sheriff's deputy shot and killed Danny Ray Thomas who was unarmed and walking in the street with his pants down. https://t.co/Cb1hsRlXIS

— The Appeal (@theappeal) March 24, 2018

Tanzania: A truck and a minibus have collided in Tanzania, killing at least 26 people and injuring nine others. The country's traffic police commander, Fortunatus Musilimu, says the dead in Mkuranga included 12 women and seven children.

Somalia: A suicide car bomber has blown himself up at a checkpoint near Somalia's Parliament and Interior Ministry in the capital Mogadishu, and the city's ambulance service says three people have been killed. Nur Mohamed, a Mogadishu police officer, told Reuters the bomb had gone off at the heavily guarded Sayidka checkpoint.

Russia: The death toll from a fire in a shopping centre in the Russian city of Kemerovo has risen to 37, news agencies report, citing local authorities. The fire tore through the shopping centre in the city of Kemerovo, with early figures saying 69 people were missing. Tass news agency said 40 of those missing were children. The Investigative Committee, which investigates high-profile crimes, is reporting directly to President Vladimir Putin. News agencies said more than 100 people had been evacuated from the mall, which contains cinemas, restaurants and shops. There was no immediate indication of the cause of the fire. Kemerovo, a coalmining centre in Siberia, is located about 3600km east of Moscow.

5 dead, 30 injured in Kemerovo shopping centre fire pic.twitter.com/nwD1tHigjJ

— Press TV (@PressTV) March 25, 2018

Brazil: Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is rallying support as part of a campaign tour ahead of his likely arrest in coming weeks. Today, da Silva visited a farm and spoke to a few hundred supporters in southern Brazil. But it seems all but certain that he will be jailed soon. As early as tomorrow, judges could order him to begin serving his sentence on a corruption conviction. Even if they do, he will remain free at least until early April while the Supreme Court considers a habeas corpus petition. Da Silva is leading polls for October's presidential election, but he is also likely to be barred from running.

"Regardless of whether he is in jail or not, no one knows if Lula will be able to be on the ballot, or take office if he were to win" https://t.co/Ows5SCODqG — #AJOpinion

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 25, 2018

Australia: The federal Coalition Government has lost its 29th straight Newspoll, as Labor's primary vote climbs. The latest Newspoll of 1597 voters published in the Australian shows the Coalition trailing the Opposition by 47-53 per cent. Labor improved its primary vote to 39 per cent against the Government's 37 per cent.

Britain: The leader of Britain's Opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, has apologised for anti-Semitism within his party, as he faced the prospect of protests over a perceived failure to act on such incidents in the past. "We recognise that anti-Semitism has occurred in pockets within the Labour Party, causing pain and hurt to our Jewish community in the Labour Party and the rest of the country," Corbyn said in a statement posted on Facebook. "I am sincerely sorry for the pain which has been caused." Labour has faced persistent criticism in recent years for anti-Semitic comments made by party members and even MPs. Corbyn himself was criticised last week for a comment made in 2012 showing solidarity with the creator of a mural deemed by many to be anti-Semitic.

I've lived in #Egypt for 7 years, it's my beloved home and I'm not sure when I can return. I was arrested after doing an interview and threatened with military trial unless I got on a plane. Like others, I still don't know what happened:https://t.co/m5EmyP8bg7

— Bel Trew (@Beltrew) March 24, 2018

Egypt: A British journalist expelled from the country last month did not have valid accreditation and was filming without a permit, Egyptian authorities said today. The State Information Service said that the Times' correspondent Bel Trew, expelled after being threatened with military trial, also covered Egypt unfairly and published false information. The move comes as part of a heavy crackdown on media ahead of this week's presidential election, which President Abdel-fattah al-Sisi is set to win after all serious competitors were arrested or intimidated into dropping out. Trew, who had been in Egypt for seven years, was expelled in late February after being arrested while reporting in Shoubra, a central Cairo district. Trew said in an account on the Times' website that she has been listed as a persona non-grata and that Cairo authorities threatened to re-arrest her if she attempts to return.

- agencies