Russian authorities breached European human rights laws when they stormed a school seized by Chechen militants in 2004, resulting in the deaths of some 300 hostages, the continent's rights court ruled on Thursday. A further 750 people were wounded when security forces, which the court said used "tank cannon, grenade launchers and flamethrowers," moved in to free more than 1,000 hostages at Beslan. "Three million euros in compensation is not enough, because you cannot measure the death of children in such figures." The court also said Russian authorities had been aware of a possible rebel attack on public places such as schools but had not prepared sufficiently. The court ordered Russia to pay 2.955 million euros ($4.16 million Cdn) in damages and 88,000 euros in legal costs.

Source: CBC News April 13, 2017 12:00 UTC