NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Afghan violence: An Afghan official says at least six civilians were shot and killed by gunmen in western Ghor province. Iqbal Nezami, spokesman for the provincial police chief, said that four other civilians were wounded after their vehicle was attacked near Faroz Koh, the provincial capital, on Tuesday. The victims were all ethnic Hazaras, a Shiite minority in Afghanistan frequently targeted by Sunni extremists. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Both the Taliban and militants from the rival Islamic State are active in Ghor and have previously claimed attacks in the province.
2 Ex-leader indicted: Romanian prosecutors on Tuesday formally indicted former President Ion Iliescu for crimes against humanity over his role in deaths that occurred during the anti-communist revolution. Iliescu, 88, appeared at the general prosecutor’s office to hear the charges against him. He didn’t comment. Iliescu came to power during the 1989 revolt in which Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu was toppled and executed. Prosecutors said Tuesday that Iliescu, who gained control of the military during the uprising, had failed to prevent “numerous situations” where people were needlessly killed. More than 1,100 people died during the uprising, the vast majority after Ceausescu’s ouster when Iliescu had taken power.
3 Rising nationalism: French President Emmanuel Macron compared political divisions in Europe to a new type of civil war as he warned Tuesday of the need to counter growing nationalism. In a speech to European Union lawmakers in Strasbourg, Macron urged the EU to better protect its citizens from the wars and authoritarian regimes that could divide the continent. The French leader invoked the specter of a Europe “where some kind of civil war emerges, where our differences, our national egoisms, sometimes seem more important than what’s uniting us.”
4 Slovakia murder case: Slovakia’s national police chief will resign following street protests against him as the nation struggles with a political crisis triggered by the slayings of an investigative journalist and his fiancee. Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini says Tibor Gaspar will step down May 31 to calm tensions in the small European Union nation. The Feb. 21 shooting deaths of reporter Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova sparked large street protests that forced former Prime Minister Robert Fico’s three-party coalition government to step down. Kuciak was investigating possible widespread government corruption and ties with Italian mobsters. The protesters, backed by President Andrej Kiska, have demanded an independent investigation into the slayings and Gaspar’s dismissal.
5 Facebook fatwa: Egypt’s top mufti issued a fatwa, or a religious decree, saying that buying Facebook “likes” is prohibited under Islam because it’s a form of fraud and deception. Grand Mufti Shawki Allam regularly issues all sorts of fatwas, usually in response to questions by Muslims seeking religious guidance. The questions are asked of the Dar al-Ifa, the Sunni Muslim institution in charge of religious rulings, mainly based on the Quran and the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. The mufti posted on the institution’s Facebook page earlier this week that it is “religiously prohibited” to pay someone to click a “like” on a promotion. Allam says “it’s deceptive,” citing Muhammad’s saying, “He who deceives is not of us.”