Plus: What's behind the protests in Kenya, and how a podcast traced one of Germany's most-wanted fugitives. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| Hello. There's been panic and chaos on the streets of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, where the military has been deployed to help police deal with protests over tax rises. Basillioh Rukanga explains what's behind the anger. From war-torn Ukraine, Jean Mackenzie reports on the soldiers and relatives fighting for LGBT equality. And we have lighter reports on royal visits, waxworks and this weekend's Glastonbury Festival. | |
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GET UP TO SPEED | - Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled that ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students - long exempt from conscription - must be drafted to the military.
| - Nine Louisiana families have sued the US state over a new law ordering all public school classrooms to display posters of the Ten Commandments.
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| The front line for LGBT rights | | Rodion's partner Roman, right, died a day before his 22nd birthday. Credit: BBC/Thanyarat Doksone/Handout | Attitudes to LGBT rights in Ukraine have shifted in recent years, with prejudices challenged by gay people fighting on the front line. But same-sex marriage remains illegal. So when gay soldiers are killed, their partners get neither state support, nor a say in what happens to the body. |
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| | | One corner of Kyiv’s symbolic central square is now carpeted in thousands of tiny blue and yellow flags, in tribute to Ukraine’s fallen soldiers. Earlier this month, a group of activists gathered to add a different type of flag to the ever-growing collection. They had unicorns in their centre, to represent each gay soldier that had been killed in the war. A 30-year-old costume designer, Rodion, had come to plant a flag in honour of his former boyfriend Roman.
Roman and five others from his brigade died in a missile attack near Kupiansk, close to Kharkiv, after a local family leaked their position to the Russians. "All this death, all this blood, it’s the same, whether you’re heterosexual or homosexual," Rodion said. The war has injected an urgency into the fight for equality. "I’ve waited 30 years, I can’t wait another 30, because I can’t guarantee I’ll be alive when this ends," Rodion said. |
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| | | - War crimes claims: The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Russia's former defence minister and the chief of general staff, on suspicion of ordering attacks on civilians in Ukraine.
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QUESTIONS ANSWERED | How tax plans sparked fury on the streets |
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| | President William Ruto vowed to restore order after the violent scenes. Credit: Reuters | Police in Nairobi have shot dead at least five people during the latest mass protests against planned tax increases, according to the Kenya Medical Association. Crowds had broken through police cordons and entered parliament, setting alight part of the complex. |
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| | Basillioh Rukanga, BBC News, Nairobi |
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| What sparked the anger? | Some of the controversial provisions initially put forward included a plan to introduce a 16% sales tax on bread and 25% duty on cooking oil. The government said it was dropping these measures amid a public outcry. | So, why have demonstrations continued? | The eco-levy was maintained that would increase the cost of imported products such as sanitary pads and babies' nappies - though not on those products made in Kenya. The finance bill introduces a 16% tax on goods and services for the construction and equipping of specialised hospitals. Many Kenyans have been apprehensive that this could mean higher costs to access critical health services for cancer, diabetes, kidney dialysis or other chronic illnesses. The bill also proposes to increase the rate of import taxes from 2.5% to 3%... just a year after the rate was reduced from 3.5% to 2.5%. | What has the government said? | President William Ruto has acknowledged the protests and promised he will hold talks to address the concerns of the youth who are at the forefront of the demonstrations. But that has done little to calm tensions. | | - Dramatic scenes: Flag-wielding protesters and the fire at the parliament have been caught on camera.
- No easy options: President Ruto faces a choice between yielding to demonstrators and abandoning his budget, or digging in and risking further bloodshed, writes Stewart Maclean, from Nairobi.
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THE BIG PICTURE | Tracking down a fugitive after 30 years |
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| | | Klette was arrested in February on suspicion of murder and robberies connected to the left-wing Red Army Faction. Credit: Interpol | Daniela Klette had been living a quiet life, walking her dog and giving maths tuition to her neighbours’ children, before her arrest. But police found tens of thousands of euros in her Berlin flat, with weapons including an assault rifle and a replica rocket launcher. Tim Mansel explains how a podcast team used facial recognition in the hunt for one of Germany's most-wanted. |
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FOR YOUR DOWNTIME | In their place | The band people loved to hate are about to become Glastonbury record-breakers. | |
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And finally... in Washington DC | Soaring temperatures have taken their toll on a wax statue of President Abraham Lincoln. The six-foot replica of the Lincoln Memorial first began to slump in the heat, before losing its head altogether. Take a look. The statue of the man known as the Great Emancipator had been placed outside a school on the site of Camp Barker - a Civil War-era refugee camp that housed formerly enslaved African Americans. | |
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Medal Moments | Your daily newsletter guide to the Paris Olympics, from global highlights to heroic stories, throughout the Games. | |
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| - US Election Unspun: Cut through the noise in the race for the White House, every Wednesday. Subscribe.
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