BBC News with Jonathan Izard.
A leading Pakistani human rights activist, Sabeen Mehmud, has been shot dead in Karachi. She was the director of a bookstore where regular human rights discussions were held. Shahzeb Jillani reports.
“Sabeen Mehmud was shot multiple times as she drove home with her mother after attending a seminar. Her mother was wounded in that attack. But the activist died as she was taken to hospital. For years, Ms. Mehmud led a charity, promoting a culture of tolerance and human rights in Pakistan's biggest city. The bookstore and cafe she ran was one of the few places where the city's liberal activists and students could meet to openly discuss women's issues and extremism. The seminar her charity hosted on Friday was on the Pakistani Army's alleged involvement in torture and killings of nationalists in Balochistan Province. It was an event, reports say, she had been warned to call off.”
Turkey has criticized the use of the word genocide during commemorations to mark the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks one hundred years ago. Both the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and the French leader, Francois Hollande, used the word during their visits to the Armenian capital, Yerevan, to attend the memorial ceremony. The former Turkish Foreign Minister, Ilter Turkmen, says the term simply isn't applicable.
“For them with genocide is, first of all, it has been inspired by the German genocide by the extermination of the Jews. This was a deliberate extermination. It cannot be compared to what happened to the Armenians. There was no intention to kill the Armenians. Armenians say one and a half million people were massacred during the First World War, a figure disputed by Turkey.”
In Turkey itself, events have been held on the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign to remember more than a hundred thousand Allied and Ottoman soldiers who died in 9 months of intense fighting. The commemorations were led by representatives of the former enemies, President Recep Tayyip Erdoan of Turkey and Britain's Prince Charles. The ultimately disastrous attack by the First World War Allies on northwestern Turkey helped to forge national identities on both sides.
The Mayor of the U.S. city of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, has described the death of a black man in police custody as unacceptable. Freddie Gray's death last Sunday sparked daily street marches against the unfair targeting and treatment of young black men by police. From Washington, here is our correspondent, Rajini Vaidyanathan.
“Nearly a week after Freddie Gray's death, the people of Baltimore still want answers what happened after he was arrested by police on April the 12th and how that he suffered a spinal injury which ultimately led to his death. 6 police officers have already been suspended without pay as investigations continue. The city's African-American Mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, has told the media she wants to know why Mr. Gray wasn't given an immediate medical assistance despite his pleas. As inquiries continue, protesters continue to take to the streets to demonstrate.”
World news from the BBC.
The Russian Parliament has approved an amnesty bill that could allow up to sixty thousand prisoners to be set free. That's about 10 percent of the Russian prison population. The bill was drawn up in honour of the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany 70 years ago. But unlike previous amnesties, it will not overturn the convictions given to some of Russia's most prominent political dissidents.
A Russian nationalist motorcycle club linked to President Vladimir Putin says it's going ahead with plans to ride through Poland to commemorate the end of the Second World War. The bikers intend to follow the route taken by the Red Army when it helped to defeat Nazi Germany. Grant Ferrett reports.
“Poland banned the Night Wolves club from crossing the country, saying it hadn't supplied enough details. The Prime Minister went on to describe the planned trip as a clear provocation. Poland's anger has been fuelled by the bikers' energetic support for President Vladimir Putin's stance on Ukraine. The Night Wolves backed Russia's annexation of Crimea and is subject to U.S. sanctions because of its alleged recruitment of separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine. The Russian Foreign Ministry has accused the Polish authorities of lying and sabotaging the event for political reasons.”
An important ally of the Houthis rebels in Yemen, the former President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has called for a return to political dialogue in an effort to end the conflict in the country. For nearly a month, the Saudi-led military coalition, which supports the Yemeni government, has been carrying out airstrikes on rebel positions. Mr. Saleh urged all parties to agree to negations under the auspices of the U.N. in Geneva.
The South African President, Jacob Zuma, has met more than 50 representatives of foreign nationals in the country in a wake of a wave of violence against foreigners. President Zuma said they had agreed to work together to find a long-term solution to ensure such attacks never happen again. At least 7 people have been killed and thousands have been forced to flee their homes in the past 3 weeks.