At Least 30 Die in Turkey Wedding Hall Bombing

ISTANBUL – A terrorist attack on a wedding hall on Saturday has left at least 30 dead and dozens wounded in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep, the NTV network reported.

As the press was told by provincial Gov. Ali Yerlikaya, who defined the bombing as a “terrorist attack” without indicating who might be the perpetrators, the bomb was detonated at a wedding party in the downtown area just before midnight.

A legislator of the CHP opposition party, Mehmet Gokdag, told the network that according to local authorities, at least 13 people were killed.

For his part, a lawmaker of the ruling AKP party, Mehmet Erdogan, said on the same TV channel that this was probably a suicide bombing.

The wedding party was being held on a downtown street of Gaziantep, a hub of southern Turkey, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the Syrian border and the scene of rearguard activities by numbers Syrian armed groups.

A great many ambulances have rushed to the scene and it is feared that the number of dead and wounded could increase.

FBI Probing Possible U.S. Ties to Corruption Involving Former Ukrainian Government

WASHINGTON – The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Justice Department are investigating possible U.S. links to an alleged corruption scheme involving deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, CNN reported, citing sources from those agencies.

Among those under investigation by U.S. authorities are Paul Manafort, a political consultant who recently resigned as chairman of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign; and prominent lobbyist Tony Podesta, the brother of the chairman of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Last weekend, The New York Times reported that Manafort appeared on a handwritten ledger maintained by the party of Yanukovych, whose government – deposed in a popular uprising in February 2014 – was closely allied with Russia.

Entries showing $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Manafort were made between 2007-2012, the Times reported last Sunday, citing Ukraine’s newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau.

But law-enforcement officials cited by CNN said that neither Manafort nor his firm were the focus of the investigation, which also is examining possible irregularities at the Podesta Group, a Washington-based lobbying firm led by Tony Podesta, and other consulting firms.

After the Times’ report surfaced, Manafort issued a statement Monday vehemently denying any wrongdoing, saying he had worked on overseas campaigns but had “never received a single ‘off-the-books cash payment’ as falsely ‘reported’ by The New York Times, nor have I ever done work for the governments of Ukraine or Russia.”

“Further, all of the political payments directed to me were for my entire political team: campaign staff (local and international), polling and research, election integrity and television advertising. The suggestion that I accepted cash payments is unfounded, silly, and nonsensical,” the statement added.

The Podesta Group, for its part, said on Friday that it had hired a law firm to study whether it conducted any improper lobbying on behalf of pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine.

The FBI’s investigation stems from a probe by Ukraine’s current pro-European administration into the finances of Yanukovych’s deposed government, which they say ran a vast corruption network.

Trump’s opponents have seized on the reports about the undisclosed cash payments to Manafort to bolster their claims about possible Russian interference in the U.S. elections.

Those suspicions have been partly fueled by Trump’s frequent expressions of sympathy and admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Eight Workers Killed at Highway Construction Site in Southern Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Eight workers were killed in an accident at a highway construction site in southern Mexico, the Guerrero state Attorney General’s Office said.

The accident occurred during construction of the Acapulco-Zihuatanejo highway, known as the new Route of the Sun.

“Regarding the regrettable accident at the construction site of the new Route of the Sun, Acapulco-Zihuatanejo, eight construction workers lost their lives near the town of Los Organos de San Agustin,” the state AG’s office said in a bulletin.

It added that it would make sure the construction company guarantees swift payment of life-insurance benefits owed to the workers’ family members.

It also said the company would expedite the process involved in returning the bodies to their relatives.

The accident occurred at 5:50 p.m. Friday when the formwork of a bridge under construction collapsed and brought down part of the road, leaving several people trapped, local media reported.

Mexican Cops Executed 22 Civilians, Rights Committee Says

MEXICO CITY – Officers of Mexico’s Federal Police executed 22 civilians during a May 2015 operation on a ranch in the western state of Michoacan, the independent National Human Rights Commission said Thursday.

Police committed grave violations of human rights at Rancho del Sol, commission chairman Luis Raul Gonzalez Perez told a press conference.

A total of 43 people, including a police officer, died at the ranch and 22 of those deaths were the result of “arbitrary execution,” the chairman said as he presented the conclusions of the commission’s investigation.

“Excessive use of force” was the cause of four other civilian fatalities and a fifth person appeared to have been run over by a vehicle, according to the report.

Authorities have maintained that the deaths at Rancho del Sol took place in the course of a gunfight between police and suspects.

The commission, however, determined that police tampered with the scene by placing guns next to 16 bodies and that the officers involved submitted false accounts of the events.

The human rights commission also found fault with the actions of investigators from the Michoacan Attorney General’s Office, who deviated from protocol and mishandled ballistics evidence.

Medical examiners likewise came under criticism for irregularities in the autopsies and delays in the return of bodies to their families.

Responding to the rights commission document, the chairman of Mexico’s National Security Committee rejected the characterization of arbitrary executions and defended the actions of police.

“The use of arms was necessary and the police acted, in our judgment, in legitimate defense,” Renato Sales said.

Four Dead, 68 Injured in South Peru Earthquake

LIMA – A magnitude-5.3 earthquake left four people dead, 68 injured and 1,253 families homeless in a rural area of Caylloma province in southern Peru’s Arequipa region, to which the authorities have sent humanitarian aid in helicopters and by land.

The fatalities were an 80-year-old woman, another age 70 and her granddaughter, a minor, as well as United States citizen Evan Baum Kent, 66, whose body was found in the Hotel Colca Eco Inn, which was destroyed by the temblor, according to the Yanque district governor.

The Indeci emergency management service reported that 605 homes were destroyed, along with three churches, a hotel, four schools, a bar, highways and irrigation canals.

The quake affected the districts of Ichupampa, Chivay, Achoma, Yanque, Coporaque, Maca, Magrigal, Tapay, Huambo and Lari, according to Indeci, and occurred at 9:58 p.m. Sunday, with its epicenter at 8 kilometers (5 miles) southwest of Chivay and the hypocenter at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).

Though at first the regional governor of Arequipa, Yamila Osorio, said that according to preliminary reports nine people could have died, it was later confirmed that no more than four people lost their lives.

The Defense Ministry reported that eight of the more seriously injured were flown to the city of Arequipa in helicopters of the armed forces and the National Police.

Kent, the only foreigner killed in the quake, was put on the first flight. His wife survived but was injured in the hotel where they were staying.

Indeci along with the Arequipa regional government, the Red Cross and the Ministry of the Woman transported to the scene of the disaster, by land and by air, humanitarian aid including food, blankets and mattresses for those affected

Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski announced that his government has ordered emergency aid sent to the earthquake area, which is being visited Tuesday by 1st Vice President and Transport and Communications Minister Martin Vizcarra and Defense Minister Mariano Gonzalez.

French Police Evict More Than 800 Immigrants from Camps in Northern Paris

PARIS – More than 800 immigrants were evacuated from several makeshift camps around the French capital on the Paris Police Prefecture said.

Police chief Yann Drouet told French media that between 800-900 immigrants were camped near the Place de la Bataille-de-Stalingrad and the operation to remove them began at dawn.

The immigrants, mostly Afghan, Sudanese, Eritrean and Somali, were taken to a local police station where their legal status was reviewed and they were offered advice and support if necessary, said Drouet.

The Prefecture has launched various eviction operations since late July.

Some human rights organizations have denounced the evictions, which they consider focused more on expelling the immigrants from the area than offering solutions or seeking alternative accommodation

Turkey Rejects German Accusations of Supporting Islamist Groups

VIENNA – Turkey rejected on Wednesday the accusations leveled by Germany on Ankara’s alleged support for Islamic organizations in the Middle East, adding that such claims were a new indication of “the distorted mentality” that aims to weaken the country.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the allegations were “a new indication of the distorted mentality, which attempted to weaken Turkey by targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish government.”

According to the note, Turkey is waiting for the “necessary explanation” from Germany on the claims, which were reported on Tuesday by German public broadcaster ARD in a document of the German interior ministry.

Turkey added that the origin of the German allegations is “certain political circles” that support the guerrillas of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Turkey.

In response to a confidential interpellation in the parliament in Berlin, the German interior ministry said that the Turkish government has become “a center platform in the Middle East” for Islamist groups, adding that Erdogan actively supports such movements.