Nationalistic rhetoric rises in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia's most popular rock band, Dubioza Kolektiv, has a new recruit who sings and plays musical instruments - a humanoid robot called Robby Megabyte.

A giant 400 metre-long portrait of Bangladesh's founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in a rice field is adding to the mania to honour the slain president as celebrations mark the country's independence 50 years ago. A private seed firm spent two months designing and planting purple and green rice over the 13 hectares (33 acres) of land to make the portrait of the father of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the nationalist approach of national leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to every issue, no matter how ethnically inclined it is. The President made the commendation at a virtual address delivered at the 12th Bola Tinubu Colloquium held in Kaduna.

Former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic's life sentence for genocide and other war crimes has been upheld by the UN War Crimes Tribunal.

Human rights activists slammed Croatian authorities for violent pushbacks of migrants and called for the abolition of the EU's Frontex border agency. Croatia denies taking violent measures against migrants.

Russia sought to abolish the post after refusing the appointment of a German politician to the position, arguing that the selection was not made by the UN Security Council.

The head of the international body set up to implement post-war peace has overruled Bosnia's parliament. It says politicians have failed to counter attempts to downplay the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.

The UN Security Council has agreed to extend the mandate of a European military mission in Bosnia. The decision came amid a simmering row over a diplomatic report citing a separatist threat.

Severe flash flooding caused by heavy rains following unseasonably warm weather has hit much of Bosnia. Power was knocked out in the capital, and a key oxygen facility for COVID-19 patients had to be evacuated.

Since the end of the Bosnian War in the mid-1990s, Bosnians, Serbs and Croats have learned to co-exist peacefully again. But the nationalistic statements of Bosnian-Serb leader Milorad Dodik are putting the country's stability to the test once again.

Separatists continue to threaten to destroy Bosnia-Herzegovina. What the tiny western Balkan state needs to combat them is democracy, the rule of law, prosperity and the prospect of being integrated into the EU soon.

The law would have allowed for the Serb-majority Republika Srpska to take over property owned by the central government. Serb leader Milorad Dodik said he does not accept the decision.