VILNIUS (Reuters) -- Lithuania’s parliament rejected on Tuesday a proposal by the ruling Homeland Union party for a snap election amidst an expenses scandal, and the prime minister later said her government may resign in response. The centre-left Homeland Union had proposed a snap election to “reset” the political system following media reports that many politicians, including three cabinet ministers, had filed excessive expenses while working as municipal councilors. Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, who has led the government since 2020, told reporters the Homeland Union party’s leadership would determine whether her government should continue. She had previously pledged to present the government’s resignation unless parliament agreed to dissolve, but said on Tuesday this was not a certainty. Presenting the election plan to parliament, Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, who leads the Homeland Union, said voters should be given an opportunity to be a “final arbiter” of the scandal.

 

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PRAGUE (Reuters) -- Kosovo is open to the possibility of new elections in four northern Serb-majority municipalities following unrest, but other steps need to be taken before then, Kosovan Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla-Schwarz said on Tuesday. Violence has flared since Kosovo authorities installed ethnic Albanian mayors in offices in the municipalities after being elected on a turnout of just 3.5%, angering Serbs who form a majority in the region and who had boycotted local polls. Gervalla-Schwarz, speaking after meeting the Czech foreign minister in Prague, said an end to the violence was the first condition to consider new elections. She said Kosovo needed “a commitment from Serbia that they will no more threaten Serbian citizens of Kosovo not to participate in the election,” adding that people should not feel the threat of mob violence.

 

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MOSCOW (Reuters) -- A Russian court on Tuesday fined the Wikimedia Foundation, which owns Wikipedia, 3 million roubles ($36,854) for refusing to delete an article on Ukraine’s Azov battalion, the Interfax news agency reported. It has previously said information that Russian authorities complained about was well-sourced and in line with Wikipedia standards. The Azov battalion, a unit of Ukraine’s military, has been designated a terrorist group by Russia. Russia has said it was not yet planning to block Wikipedia, but has handed the online encyclopaedia a series of fines. Russia fined Meta’s messenger service WhatsApp for the first time last week for not deleting banned content. Rakuten Group’s messaging app Viber also faces a first-time fine of up to 4 million roubles over content, TASS reported on Tuesday.

 

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DHAKA (AFP) -- Bangladesh has promised that no Rohingya refugee will be returned to Myanmar against their will in a controversial proposed repatriation process, a top United Nations official has said. Bangladesh is home to around a million Rohingya, most of whom fled a 2017 military crackdown in neighboring Myanmar that is now subject to a UN genocide investigation. The Rohingya are widely viewed in Myanmar as interlopers from Bangladesh, despite roots in the country stretching back centuries, and are stateless after Myanmar ceased recognizing their citizenship in 2015. Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to a pilot repatriation of 1,176 refugees, despite concerns raised by refugees and rights groups such as Human Rights Watch, who last month warned it poses “grave risks”. Bangladesh has repeatedly said any repatriation would be voluntary.  However, several Rohingya earmarked for the return program told AFP they had been threatened to join.

 

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BERLIN (AFP) -- German police have arrested a second suspect in the revived cold case of a deadly arson attack on a home for asylum seekers over 30 years ago, prosecutors said Tuesday. Named as Peter St., the man is accused of inciting the arson attack in 1991 which killed a 27-year-old Ghanaian man, Samuel Yeboah. Peter St. faces charges of being an accessory to Yeboah’s murder and an accessory to attempted murder in 20 cases. The main suspect, named as Peter S., went on trial in November and is accused of starting the fire in the town of Saarlouis in the early hours of September 19, 1991. Prosecutors say Peter S. was part of the skinhead scene and had a “right-wing extremist and racist motivation” for the attack.

 

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NAIROBI (AFP) -- Kenyan police fired tear gas and arrested 11 protesters, AFP journalists said, during a march in Nairobi on Tuesday against a new finance bill that critics say will pile more economic hardship on ordinary people. The proposed legislation calls for new or increased taxes on a wide range of data-x-items including fuel and food as well as beauty products, crypto currencies and social media influencers. Police fired off several volleys of tear gas and arrested 11 people, bundling them into a police truck, to try to disperse the demonstration, AFP journalists at the scene said.  The demonstrations have been dubbed “sita sita” (six six) as they are being staged on the sixth day of the sixth month. President William Ruto is seeking to fill the government’s depleted coffers and repair a heavily-indebted economy inherited from his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta, who splurged on major infrastructure projects.