UK leader Sunak says judges won’t stop him sending migrants to Rwanda

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he will “do what is necessary” to revive a blocked deal to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda, even if it means ignoring human rights laws. The U.K. Supreme Court has declared the plan illegal, but Sunak said Thursday that a planned new law would overcome the ruling. Sending asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda is central to the U.K. government’s self-imposed goal of stopping unauthorized asylum-seekers from trying to cross the English Channel in small boats from France. The plan has roiled Sunak’s Conservative Party and threatened his leadership. Party hard-liners want even tougher action. The immigration minister quit Wednesday, saying the bill “does not go far enough.”

Denmark’s parliament adopts a law making it illegal to burn the Quran

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A new law was passed in Denmark’s parliament on Thursday that makes it illegal to desecrate any holy text in the country, after a recent string of public desecrations of the Quran by a handful of anti-Islam activists sparked angry demonstrations in Muslim countries. The Scandinavian nation has been viewed abroad as a place that facilitates insults and denigration of the cultures, religions and traditions of other countries. The purpose of the law was to counter “the systematic mockery” which, among other things, has contributed to intensifying the threat of terrorism in Denmark, the justice ministry has said.

Russian girl shoots several classmates, leaving 1 dead, before killing herself

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian girl shot several classmates at school Thursday, killing one person and wounding five others before killing herself, state news agencies and authorities said. The shooting happened at a school in Bryansk, a city in a region of the same name that borders Ukraine, Russia’s Investigative Committee said. One of the people wounded was in serious condition, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said. A fellow student told RIA Novosti that the girl brought the gun to the school in a tube for carrying papers.

Navalny’s lawyers to remain in detention at least through mid-March

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Moscow court extended on Thursday pre-trial detentions for three lawyers who once represented imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The three were arrested in October on charges of participating in an extremist group, a case widely seen as a means to ramp up pressure on the politician. The Basmanny District Court ruled that Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Liptser will remain behind bars at least until March 13. According to Navalny’s allies, authorities accuse the lawyers of using their status as defense attorneys to pass letters from the imprisoned politician to his team.