AFP, Istanbul
A Turkish court on Saturday placed under arrest three former top diplomats, including an advisor to ex-president Abdullah Gul, over links to the failed July 15 coup, state media said. An Ankara court remanded Gurcan Balik, Ali Findik and Tuncay Babali in custody ahead of trial over suspected links to the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen who is accused of masterminding the coup, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.
US asks Pakistan to deny extremists
PTI, Washington
The US has asked Pakistan to ensure that there are no safe havens for terrorists in the country, stressing that it should not differentiate between terror groups based on their agenda or affiliation. “We have consistently raised our concerns to the highest level of the government of Pakistan on the need to deny safe haven to extremists,” State Department Spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters yesterday.
Fire kills 16 in Moscow printing works
Reuters, Moscow
A fire in a warehouse at a Moscow printing works killed at least 16 people on Saturday morning, an Emergencies Ministry official told Rossiya-24 TV station. “Sixteen bodies were found in a room, four injured were brought to hospitals in Moscow. The fire was completely put out by 0953 (0253 ET),” he said.
Bird flu strain found in Alaskan
Reuters, Chicago
The type of avian flu that led to the deaths of about 50 million US chickens and turkeys last year has been found in the country for the first time in 14 months, the US Department of Agriculture said today.. The USDA said it detected the H5N2 strain of the disease in a wild duck in Alaska as part of surveillance testing it has been conducting on birds since last year’s devastating outbreak.
