AP, Srinagar
Police and witnesses say a man has been killed after the Indian army fired at a group of protesters hurling rocks at soldiers in the disputed Kashmir region.
Police say soldiers on a patrol were pelted with rocks near the main mosque in western Beerwah town where worshippers gathered after Friday prayers. According to witnesses, soldiers fired indiscriminately after some rocks hit iron shutters of shops that closed due to a strike called by separatist to protest Indian rule.
German President OKs gay marriage law
AP, Berlin
Germany’s president has signed legislation legalizing gay marriage, paving the way for it to take effect this fall.
Lawmakers approved the bill on June 30 in its last session before Germany’s September election. The move became possible after Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose conservative party had long been reluctant to budge on the issue, said she would allow its lawmakers to vote according to their conscience.
Insurgent kills 4 Afghan cops
AP, Kabul
An official says an insurgent attack in western Ghor province has killed four police officers and wounded another seven police.
Mohammad Mustafa Moseni, Ghor provincial police chief, said Friday that Taliban attacked police compounds in the two provincial districts of Taywara and Pasaband, considered key to the security of the provincial capital.
The attacks, which occurred overnight, resulted in a four-hour gunbattle in which 24 Taliban were killed, said Moseni.
2 killed in Venezuela strike against Maduro’s rule
AFP, Caracas
Two people were killed in clashes Thursday in Venezuela during a nationwide strike against President Nicolas Maduro’s plans to re-write the country’s constitution.
Thursday’s 24-hour stoppage affected areas of the capital and other regions, including the country’s second-biggest city of Maracaibo, with businesses shuttered, public transport stalled and streets often deserted. Riot police and soldiers fired tear gas and buck shot at protesters, who blocked streets with debris in parts of Caracas and set a police booth on fire.
Street blockades continued overnight.
