Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani blasted Beyoncé’s half-time performance at Super Bowl 50 as “outrageous” due to its apparent allusions to the Black Lives Matter movement and black power imagery.

A Florida man charged with shooting at George Zimmerman last week had “a fixation” on the former neighbourhood watch leader and had recently been admitted to a mental institution, according to a police report made public last night.

George Zimmerman, who was acquitted of murder charges in the 2013 shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in Florida, suffered a minor wound after being shot at in his vehicle yesterday, police said.

The images of Barack Obama urging peace alongside footage of angry protesters shows the yawning gap between substance and symbolism, writes Peniel Joseph

Police cars have been vandalised and several gunshots have been heard on the streets of Ferguson after the announcement that a white police officer will not be indicted over the shooting death of an unarmed black 18-year-old.

A grand jury has reached a decision about whether to charge a white police officer in the shooting dead of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, US prosecutors say.

A software developer has been convicted of attempted murder for shooting into a car full of teenagers after an argument over what he called their “thug music”, in the latest Florida case to raise questions about self-defence and race.

AS 2013 closes, here is my countdown of what were the stories that left the most impression on me during the year.

Country-pop star Taylor Swift scored big at the American Music Awards, taking home four wins including the night’s top prize for artist of the year, as some of pop music’s biggest names came together for the fan-voted awards ceremony.

The former neighbourhood watch volunteer cleared over his high-profile killing of an unarmed black teenager tried to choke his girlfriend and left her fearing for her life, a Florida court has heard.

George Zimmerman, who was acquitted last summer in the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, was granted bail after his arrest on assault charges for an incident in which he is alleged to have pulled a shotgun on his girlfriend.

Officials say George Zimmerman, the neighbourhood watch volunteer acquitted earlier this year in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager, has been arrested following a disturbance call from a house in Florida.

Chris Brown says he still faces "blatant racism".

The estranged wife of a former neighbourhood watch volunteer cleared over the fatal shooting of a black teenager does not want to press charges against him despite claiming that he threatened her and her father, police in Florida said.

George Zimmerman’s wife has filed for divorce, less than two months after her husband was cleared of murdering teenager Trayvon Martin and a week after she admitted to perjury in his case.

Two significant anniversaries in humanity’s visceral but never-ending struggle for justice, recognition and equality fall this week.

Miley Cyrus has admitted to singing about MDMA.

US senator John McCain is backing President Barack Obama’s call for the so-called “stand your ground” laws in Florida and other states to be re-examined in the wake of the George Zimmerman case.

By this point, we all know the facts.

Thousands of demonstrators across the US have joined Trayvon Martin's mother in calling for justice for the killed unarmed teenager.

Thousands of people are gathering today for nationwide rallies in the US.

President Barack Obama has called on Americans to do some soul searching over the death of black teenager Trayvon Martin, delivering an emotional public reflection on race that was rare for the country’s first black president.

Looking for positive lessons to draw from the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, US president Barack Obama said today the nation needs to do some “soul-searching”.

Trayvon Martin’s parents say they are still in shock and disbelief that jurors acquitted George Zimmerman over the death of their 17-year-old son.

A protest over George Zimmerman’s acquittal has led to the arrests of 17 people in a southern California town.

Regarding the recent verdict in the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case in the USA: Were the Florida prosecutors trained by the California prosecutors and the LAPD?

Rolling Stone was embroiled in controversy after announcing its latest magazine cover story will be accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Vigils and rallies will be held in 100 US cities this weekend to press for federal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman over the shooting of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin.

Once you get past the fact of Obama’s election, there hasn’t really been much racial progress in the US, writes Michael Tomasky

The pretence of looking at the facts of a case may have its own prejudice, writes Neal Gabler

When President Barack Obama addressed the death of Trayvon Martin last year, he did so passionately, declaring that if he had a son, he would look like the teenager.

A juror in the trial of George Zimmerman said the actions of both he and Trayvon Martin led to the teenager’s fatal shooting - but the neighbourhood watch volunteer did not break the law.

Very few of us have the magnanimity, the selflessness or humanity needed to break the cycle of hatred and bias perpetuated by tribal, racial or religious legacies.

Outrage over the acquittal of George Zimmerman over the shooting of an unarmed black teenager poured from street demonstrations and church pulpits as protesters called for justice for the victim.

Cleared by a Florida jury, George Zimmerman walked free from criminal charges in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin but was still under fire from civil rights leaders and critics who were dismayed by the verdict.

Demonstrators protested in three California cities against the acquittal of George Zimmerman and officials say they broke windows and vandalised cars in Oakland.

A prosecutor has told jurors that George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin “because he wanted to,” not because he had to, while the neighbourhood watch volunteer’s attorney said the deadly shooting of the Miami-area teen was carried out in self-defence.

The neighbourhood watch volunteer who shot dead a 17-year-old boy says he prays daily for the teenager's parents.

The neighbourhood watch volunteer who killed an unarmed black teenager can be released from jail while he awaits trial on a second-degree murder charge, a Florida judge has ruled.

The man who shot US teenager Trayvon Martin must return to jail, a judge has ordered.

US neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman publicly accused police of covering up the beating of a homeless black man by the son of a white officer more than a year before he shot unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, it emerged today.

Trayvon Martin was shot through the heart at close range and George Zimmerman had a broken nose, bruises and cuts on the back of his head, new documents show.

George Zimmerman has been released from a Florida jail on $150,000 (€114,000) bond as he awaits trial for shooting Trayvon Martin.