Paris

Airport attacker shot dead: Orly airport in Paris was temporarily closed last Saturday, following a major security scare in which a man put a pistol to the head of an on-duty soldier and seized her rifle. Witnesses report that he shouted, “I am here to die for Allah, there will be deaths”, before he was himself shot dead by anti-terror police. The attacker, Ziyed Ben Belgacem – who was born in France to Tunisian parents – was carrying a petrol can in a backpack, along with a copy of the Koran. However, his relatives insist that he was not a religious extremist, and toxicology reports have revealed that he was nearly double the drink-drive limit when he died, and had taken cannabis and cocaine. Hours before the attack, he had stolen a car, and shot at police who’d stopped him during a routine operation in the north of Paris, wounding one officer.

Rome

Pope begs forgiveness: Pope Francis has acknowledged that the Catholic Church was implicated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered by Hutu militias. Following a meeting with Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame at the Vatican, the Pope stated that some Catholic priests and nuns had “succumbed to hatred and violence” during the genocide, and begged for God’s forgiveness “for the sins and failings of the Church and its members”. It is the first time the Vatican has conceded that the Church as an institution bore some responsibility for the killings. Thousands of people were slaughtered in churches where they had sought refuge during the 100-day terror; one priest, Athanase Seromba, ordered his church to be bulldozed while 2,000 Tutsis sheltered inside it. The Church also helped perpetrators of the genocide to flee to Europe and evade justice. President Kagame described the Pope’s public statement as a “great moment”.

Minsk Rare

protests: In the strongest show of discontent in Belarus for years, thousands of people have taken part in protests in cities across the country against their authoritarian president’s 23-year rule. More than 200 people have been arrested over the protests, which began in February in response to a new law imposing a $250 (£200) fine on people who work less than 183 days a year; even an offer to suspend the tax has failed to halt the movement. President Alexander Lukashenko (above), who has been called “Europe’s last dictator”, has blamed the unrest on a “fifth column” directed by Western spies.

Lesbos, Greece

Misery in the camps: The deal that the EU and Turkey signed a year ago – designed to halt the flow of refugees from the Middle East – has indeed led to fewer immigrants making their way to Greece, and reduced deaths in the Aegean Sea, but it has prolonged and exacerbated human suffering, according to a group of NGOS. The deal states that refugees who arrive in Greece can be sent back to Turkey unless they qualify for asylum in Greece. But lengthy asylum procedures have created a huge backlog, and up to 14,000 men, women and children are stranded in camps on Lesbos and four other islands in the Aegean, in abysmal, crowded conditions, the joint report says. Separately, charities have warned of a growing mental health crisis in the camps, with people – including children as young as nine – self-harming, attempting suicide and resorting to drugs to cope with the “endless misery”.