A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
UK public servants may join jobs strike
LONDON – More than 250,000 public servants in Britain could join a national strike in June against job cuts, a pay freeze and the coalition government's plans to reform their pensions, a union said yesterday.
The Public and Commercial Services union said its national executive had unanimously backed plans for the strike, which would be the largest industrial action taken since the Conservative-led government took power last May. If ratified by the unions annual conference starting on May 18th, a ballot would be held the following week and the first strike might take place in June. – (Reuters)
Lawyers for Phil Spector to seek third trial
LOS ANGELES – Lawyers for Phil Spector were expected to urge a California appeals court yesterday to throw out his 2009 murder conviction and grant a third trial.
Spector (71), once revered in the music industry for creating the layered “Wall of Sound” recording technique, is serving a sentence of at least 19 years for the murder of Lana Clarkson.
He was convicted by a Los Angeles superior court jury in April 2009 at his second trial. His lawyers say his trial was prejudiced by testimony from five women who said they were victims of gun-related incidents with Spector years ago. – (Reuters)