Belarus: Police arrest dozens at Freedom Day rallies

Estonia's recently-elected president is urging caution over the situation at Belarus's borders with the European Union. Thousands of migrants hoping to enter the EU and claim asylum there, mainly from the Middle East, are camped at the borders. Asked by FRANCE 24 how dangerous he judges the tensions to be, Alar Karis said: "I think it's a threat. It's a border of the EU and of a NATO state. We should be very careful and cautious about what's going on Of course the sad thing is that there are innocent people in between that they are using as a shield."

Police have used tear gas to disperse a crowd protesting gender-based violence in Istanbul. Many of the protesters called on the government to resign.

As temperatures across Europe plummet, thousands of migrants are still stuck in Belarus, hoping to find a route into the European Union — although Brussels insists the bloc will not accept them. DW's Nick Connolly met some of them in Minsk.

The Belarusian strongman has encouraged migrants to continue their journey into the European Union. "We will not try to catch you, beat you, and hold you behind barbed wire," he said.

Citizens of Afghanistan were by far the biggest group of people applying for asylum in the EU, Switzerland and Norway in September 2021.

Thousands of Sudanese protest across the country in a show of anger over a government deal that reinstated the prime minister but gave the military majority control. Also, Gambia's president wins re-election, but the opposition is crying foul. One competitor has since accepted the result, but two others are refusing to. Finally, protesters take to South African beaches in opposition to oil and gas exploration by energy giant Shell. Activists say the project endangers marine animals and tourism.

Clashes erupted in Nairobi after a Kenyan police officer shot dead six people in a rampage on Tuesday (December 7) and then shot and killed himself, a senior police officer and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations said. The officer first shot and killed his wife at their home before setting off with his service-issued AK-47 rifle to shoot dead another four people, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations said on its Twitter account, describing the shooter as a "rogue officer".

French authorities have released a Saudi man they detained after mistaking him for someone else who is wanted over his involvement in the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

Brussels says the Belarusian government created the crisis by luring migrants with false promises. But some say Poland and the EU are ignoring human suffering.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Tuesday⁣⁣

Slovakia's former Prime Minister Robert Fico was detained before a protest defying coronavirus restrictions. Fico is a vocal critic of anti-COVID measures in the pandemic-hit country.

UN representatives traveling to the region described the situation as "appalling," calling on both countries to live up to their human rights obligations.