NEWS OF THE DAY

1 _ Bombing attack: A suicide attack Saturday in Afghanistan’s capital killed at least 18 people and wounded 57 others, including schoolchildren, the interior ministry said. The explosion struck outside an education center in a heavily Shiite neighborhood of western Kabul. No group claimed responsibility for the bombing. The Taliban rejected any connection with the attack. An Islamic State affiliate claimed responsibility for a similar suicide attack at an education center in August 2018, in which 34 students were killed. Within Afghanistan, the militants have launched largescale attacks on minority Shiites.

2 _ Guinea election: President Alpha Conde has won a third term with 59.5% of the vote, the National Independent Electoral Commission declared Saturday. Some people immediately protested in the streets after the announcement. Such demonstrations have occurred for months after the government changed the constitution through a national referendum, boycotted by the opposition, allowing Conde, 82, to extend his decade in power. Opposition candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo received 33.5% of the vote, the commission said. Tensions around the election turned violent in recent days after Diallo claimed victory ahead of the official results. Celebrations by his supporters were suppressed when security forces fired tear gas to disperse them. At least nine people have been killed since the election, according to the government.

3 _ Egypt politics: The first stage of parliamentary elections began Saturday, a vote that is likely to produce a toothless lower chamber packed with supporters of President AbdelFattah elSissi. Since coming to power in 2014, elSissi has presided over a rolling crackdown on dissent that has discouraged public criticism of the government. Security forces detained thousands following small, sporadic street protests against corruption last year. Some 63 million voters are eligible to vote in the twostage election, with results announced in early December. _ 4 Dam turmoil: Ethiopia on Saturday denounced “belligerent threats” over the huge dam it has nearly completed on the Blue Nile River, a day after President Trump said downstream Egypt will “blow up” the project it has called an existential threat. Ethiopia’s foreign minister summoned the U. S. ambassador to seek clarification, saying “the incitement of war between Ethiopia and Egypt from a sitting U. S. president neither reflects the longstanding partnership and strategic alliance between Ethiopia and the United States nor is acceptable in international law.” Trump made the comment while announcing that Sudan would start to normalize ties with Israel. Downstream Sudan is a party to the talks with Ethiopia and Egypt over the disputed dam. “They ( Egypt) will end up blowing up the dam,” Trump said. 5 _ Hong Kong tensions: China’s foreign ministry says it may decide not to recognize Britishissued passports for Hong Kong residents in retaliation for London’s moves to open a path to citizenship for those holding the documents. Britain said in May that it would allow holders of such passports extended stays and the possibility of citizenship, prompting thousands of Hong Kongers to rush to renew or apply for them as Beijing steps up restriction on political expression. Hong Kong reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997 and the sides have increasingly feuded over civil rights in the territory. Britain accuses China of failing to live up to its pledges to maintain freedoms in the special administrative region, while Beijing says London is interfering in its internal affairs.

black balaclavas” hiding their faces, he added.

Describing the testimonies as “horrifying,” the DRC’s secretary general, Charlotte Slente, urged in a written statement for immediate action “to put a stop to the systematic use of violence.”

“Treating human beings like this, irrespective of their migratory status, cannot and should not be accepted by any European country, or by any EU institution,” Slente said.

Human rights organizations have accused Croatia’s police for years of brutality and illegal pushbacks of migrants, which Croatia has consistently denied.

Croatia’s Interior Ministry said earlier last week that it was investigating the DRC allegations with the goal of “removing any doubt about the behavior of Croatian police officers or sanctioning and eliminating all irregularities if any occurred.”

Migrants interviewed by the DRC in Bosnia bore visible injuries that were also documented in a series of disturbing photographs shared with the AP.

Separately on Friday, in a makeshift camp in northwestern Bosnia, numerous other migrants were nursing injuries they said were inflicted on them by the Croatian police.

“Disturbingly, these reports suggest that violence and dehumanizing acts accompanying pushbacks are increasing,” said Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights.

Sabina Niksic is an Associated Press writer.