RUSSIA: A woman went on trial today for the St Petersburg cafe bombing that killed prominent Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, who was given a bust of himself that later exploded.

Darya Trepova is charged with carrying out a terrorist attack, illegal trafficking of explosive devices and forging documents in connection with the April 2 blast.

She faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

GERMANY: A suspected far-right extremist was convicted of attempted murder today for firing at police who had come to search his home for an unauthorised weapon.

The Stuttgart state court sentenced the German citizen, whose name it didn’t release, to 14-and-a-half years in prison. He was convicted of several counts of attempted murder, plus attacking and resisting officers and bodily harm.

FRANCE: Judicial authorities issued international arrest warrants today for Syrian President Bashar Assad for his alleged involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity, lawyers for Syrian victims said.

Arrest warrants were also issued for the president’s brother, Maher Assad, the commander of the Fourth Armored Division, and two Syrian army generals, Ghassan Abbas and Bassam al-Hassan, on the same charges.

SENEGAL: Opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was returned to prison today after weeks of hospital treatment during a hunger strike in protest against his detention on charges that he says are politically motivated.

The announcement came just days before Senegal’s Supreme Court is due to rule on whether Mr Sonko can take part in the forthcoming February election after he was convicted of corrupting youth earlier this year.