Obama calls for end to US voter suppression

Former US President Barack Obama has sharply criticised what he described as Republican attempts at voter suppression in a speech at civil rights leader John Lewis's funeral.

He said people in power were "attacking our voting rights with surgical precision" and called for wide reform, reports BBC.

He also decried the police killing of George Floyd and the subsequent use of federal agents against protesters.

Lewis died of cancer earlier this month aged 80.

He was one of the "Big Six" civil rights leaders, which included Martin Luther King Jr, and helped organise the historic 1963 March on Washington.

In a fiery eulogy delivered in Ebeneezer Baptist Church in the city of Atlanta, Mr Obama launched a stinging attack on Donald Trump's administration and some police departments.

"Today we witness with our own eyes, police officers kneeling on the necks of black Americans," he said. "We can witness our federal government sending agents to use tear gas and batons against peaceful demonstrators."

He said people in government were "doing their darnedest to discourage people from voting" by closing polling stations and imposing "restrictive ID laws" on minorities and students.