President Obama due in Selma to mark anniversary

President Obama will lead tributes in Alabama on Saturday for civil rights campaigners who were beaten and tear gassed 50 years ago by police as they demanded equal voting rights for black Americans.

The violent images of black marchers being beaten as they walked from Selma to the state capital, Montgomery, helped turn public opinion and led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which removed barriers to black people voting.