Obama to hold Ferguson meetings

US president Barack Obama is due to discuss the situation in Ferguson, Missouri, with his cabinet, civil rights leaders, law enforcement officials and others.

The White House says Obama’s cabinet meeting will focus on his administration’s review of federal programmes that provide military-style equipment to law enforcement agencies.

The president will also meet with young civil rights leaders to discuss the challenges posed by “mistrust between law enforcement and communities of colour”.

He will then meet with government and law enforcement officials, as well as other community leaders, to discuss how to strengthen neighbourhoods.

Protests have continued in Ferguson, but have been more muted than the violence sparked last week by a grand jury’s decision not to indict a police officer in the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.