139 cleric Gulen men detained in Turkey
AP, Ankara
Turkey’s state-run news agency says authorities have issued detention warrants for 139 public employees who are suspected of links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Turkey of orchestrating last summer’s failed coup.
Anadolu Agency said Wednesday that authorities have ordered the detention of 60 employees at Ankara’s mayor’s office, 19 staff at district municipalities linked to Ankara, 30 former employees of the development ministry and 30 at the education ministry.
Taiwan top court rules in favour of gay marriage
AP, Taipei
Taiwan’s top court ruled in favour of gay marriage Wednesday, a landmark decision that paves the way for the island to become the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex unions.
Crowds of supporters cheered, hugged and wept as the court said current laws preventing the practice “violated” the constitution’s guarantees of freedom of marriage and equality.
French president seeks to extend emergency
AP, Paris
French President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to extend a state of emergency, in place since Islamic State attacks on France in 2015, following this week’s attack on a concert in Manchester,
Macron said in a statement that he will ask parliament to prolong the measure from July 15, its current expiration date, until Nov. 1. It would be the sixth extension of the state of emergency, which gives police exceptional powers.
Two Chinese nationals kidnapped in Pakistan
Reuters, Islamabad
Two Chinese nationals working in Pakistan were kidnapped on Wednesday in the city of Quetta, a provincial government spokesman said, in the latest attack on workers from China likely to raise concern about its investment plans.
“A Chinese couple has been kidnapped and their personal guard was injured during the incident,” Anwar ul Haq Kakar, a spokesman for Baluchistan province, of which Quetta is capital, told Reuters.
IS kills five in first suicide attack in Somalia
AFP, Mogadishu
The Islamic State group has claimed its first suicide attack in Somalia that left five dead as it steps up activities in a region dominated by the Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab.
The group’s self-styled news agency Amaq claimed the “martyrdom-seeking operation with an explosive vest” in a statement carried by the SITE Intelligence Group which noted it was the first suicide bombing by the militants in Somalia.
Duterte mulls imposing martial law nationwide
AFP, Manila
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday he may impose martial law throughout the nation, after declaring military rule in the southern third the cof ountry to combat Islamist militants.
Duterte on Tuesday announced the imposition of martial law in the region of Mindanao, home to about 20 million people, after militants who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group rampaged through a city there.
