AP, Moscow
The Council of Europe, the continent’s main human rights body, adopted a declaration Friday that restores Russia’s voting rights following a spat related to its annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.
Foreign ministers from the council’s 47 member states voted overwhelmingly to support a declaration that says that all members should be “entitled to participate” in the council’s two main organs “on an equal basis.” That means Russia’s voting rights have been restored.
Japan bans drones over Olympic,
military sites
AFP, Tokyo
Japan on Friday passed laws to ban drones being flown over Tokyo 2020 Olympic sites and US military facilities as a measure aimed at preventing terror attacks.
Under the new legislation, drone flights will be restricted over the Olympic sites as well as venues for the Rugby World Cup that kicks off this September.
Sri Lanka army denies colluding with
anti-Muslim rioters
AFP, Colombo
Sri Lanka’s army today denied allegations that its troops colluded with anti-Muslim mobs and failed to contain widespread riots that killed one man in a backlash against the Easter terror attacks.
Army chief Mahesh Senanayake said CCTV footage of troops allegedly signalling a mob to attack a home in the latest wave of rioting did not show his soldiers committing any wrongdoing.
Air strike kills eight cops in Afghanistan
Reuters, Kabul
An air strike killed at least eight policeman in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, a government official said on Friday, the latest casualties from a rise in air and ground operations against the Afghan Taliban. It was not immediately clear if Afghan or U.S. forces carried out the air strike on Thursday night near the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, said Omar Zwak, a spokesman for Helmand’s governor.
3 British crew killed in Dubai plane crash
AFP, Dubai
Three British people and a South African were killed Thursday in a plane crash close to Dubai airport, the United Arab Emirates’ state news agency reported. The UK-registered Diamond Aircraft went down five kilometres (three miles) south of the international hub, WAM said, citing civil aviation authorities.
Ex- S Korean minister arrested
AFP, Seoul
A former South Korean vice justice minister has been arrested on allegations of bribery, including being provided with prostitutes by a construction contractor. Kim Hak-ui is a former prosecutor who briefly served as the number two at the justice ministry in 2013, during the administration of ousted former president Park Geun-hye.
