World

The United States' religious freedom ambassador is traveling to Ukraine, Poland, and Uzbekistan for meetings on protecting the rights of religious and ethnic groups.

The State Department said that, in Ukraine, Ambassador Sam Brownback is scheduled to meet with government officials and religious leaders.

He was later set to travel to Poland for a major conference hosted by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe "for discussions about repressive measures against peaceful members of ethnic and religious groups."

The department said Brownback would also be touring the concentration camp at Auschwitz, where he will participate in a wreath-laying and a candle-lighting ceremony.

In Uzbekistan, Brownback is expected to meet with top government officials "to discuss Uzbekistan’s recent positive steps on religious freedom policies and encourage legislative reforms."

Washington has criticized the Central Asian nation for years about its policies toward religious expression.

In its annual report released in January, the United States singled out Uzbekistan, along with Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, for engaging in or tolerating systematic, ongoing, and "egregious" violations of religious freedom.

Police in Germany have detained two Afghan suspects in the death of a German man in the eastern city of Kothen.

The 22-year-old victim in Kothen died of heart failure overnight on September 9 following an alleged fight with Afghan men.

However, police and prosecutors said that "the concrete circumstances of the event are not yet known" and that all lines of inquiry remained open.

It comes two weeks after an incident involving a Syrian and an Iraqi in Chemnitz, about 160 kilometers to the south, sparked clashes between far-right and anti-Nazi protesters.

The Syrian and Iraqi suspects were detained after a 35-year-old German man was stabbed to death in a fight in August.

Following the protests by rival sides in the migrant debate, a German court on September 3 gave an 8 1/2-year prison sentence to a failed asylum seeker who claims to be from Afghanistan over the stabbing death of his 15-year-old ex-girlfriend.

Identified as Abdul D., the defendant admitted to the court that he stabbed the girl at a drugstore in the southwestern town of Kandel in December.

The case sparked national outrage and led to German far-right groups holding protests as part of their campaign against migrants.

With reporting by the BBC, dpa, and AFP