India rejects US report on attacks on minority Muslims
Reuters, New Delhi
India on Sunday rejected a U.S. State Department’s annual report on religious freedom that raised questions about the government’s inability to curb violent attacks on the country’s minority Muslims.
Preparing for a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday, India’s foreign ministry issued a stiff rejoinder to the U.S. criticism.
Sudan court orders end to internet blackout
AFP, Khartoum
A Sudanese court Sunday ordered authorities to end a nationwide internet blockade imposed by the ruling generals after a deadly crackdown on protesters earlier this month, a lawyer said.
Crowds of protesters were violently dispersed on June 3 by men in military fatigues, who stormed a weeks-long protest camp outside the army headquarters in Khartoum where they had camped to demand that the generals step down.
Thousands march in Ukraine
capital’s Gay Pride
AFP, Kiev
More than 8,000 people turned out on Sunday for Kiev’s annual Gay Pride parade amid tight security as far-right activists sought to disrupt the celebration, organisers said.
The marchers, waving rainbow and Ukrainian flags and dressed in bright colours, marched through the centre of the capital as thousands of police and National Guard troops stood by to ensure order.
Benin’s ex-president leaves amid
political crisis
AFP, Cotonou
Former Benin president Thomas Boni Yayi left the country on Saturday for health reasons, a spokesman for his party said, after two months of political crisis following controversial elections in April.
Boni Yayi, who had been under effective house arrest in northern Benin, left after “his health deteriorated rapidly”, Noureni Atchade, spokesman for his Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin (FCBE) party, said in an interview with Radio France Internationale without giving details. His surprise departure came after weeks of tension between President Patrice Talon and his predecessor.
