Turkey orders arrest of 267 Gulen-linked suspects
Reuters, Istanbul
Turkish prosecutors ordered the detention of 267 people, mostly military officers and defense industry staff, for suspected links to the U.S.-based Muslim cleric accused of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016, state media said on Friday.
The orders marked an escalation of what has been a steady stream of raids against alleged supporters of preacher Fethullah Gulen since the coup attempt in July 2016, in which 250 people were killed.
Brazil couple sentenced to US prison for
kidnapping
AFP, Chicago
A federal judge in Texas on Wednesday sentenced a Brazilian couple to short prison terms for helping to kidnap their grandson from the US.
A Houston jury had convicted Carlos and Jemima Guimaraes in May for helping their daughter relocate their grandson Nico Brann to Brazil five years ago, without his American father’s permission.
Israel arrests 40 Palestinians
AFP, Jerusalem
Israeli forces arrested 40 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank overnight during a manhunt for the perpetrator of a deadly attack, the army said on Friday.
The West Bank, which Israel has occupied for more than 50 years, saw the third Palestinian shooting in two months Thursday, with an attacker killing two Israeli soldiers near a Jewish settlement before fleeing the scene.
Paris police bracing for more violent protests
AP, Paris
Anticipating a fifth straight weekend of violent protests, Paris’ police chief said Friday that armored vehicles and thousands of officers will be deployed again in the French capital.
Michel Delpuech told RTL radio that security services intend to deploy the same numbers and strength as last weekend, with about 8,000 officers and 14 armored vehicles again in Paris.
13 young miners feared dead in India
AO, Gauhati
Thirteen young miners were missing and feared dead following the collapse of a shaft and flooding of a coal mine they were digging illegally in India’s remote northeast, police said Friday. Efforts were being made to pump water out of the mine, which flooded Wednesday, police said. National Disaster Response Force workers joined local authorities in the rescue effort.
French police kill Strasbourg Christmas market gunman
AFP, Strasbourg
The gunman who killed three people at a Christmas market in Strasbourg was shot dead by French police on Thursday as the Islamic State jihadist group claimed him as one of its “soldiers”. More than 700 French security forces had been hunting for 29-year-old Cherif Chekatt since the bloodshed on Tuesday night – the latest in a string of jihadist attacks to rock France.
