Turkish court decision:

A Turkish court on Monday sentenced prominent Turkish civil rights activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala to life in prison without parole, finding him guilty of attempting to overthrow the government with mass protests in 2013.

Western governments and rights groups strongly criticized the ruling, with one calling it “a travesty of justice of spectacular proportions.”

The court in Istanbul also sentenced seven other defendants, including 71-year-old architect Mucella Yapici, to 18 years in prison each for “aiding” the attempt.

It ordered that the activists, who were not in custody, be immediately arrested, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Kavala, 64, has been jailed in Silivri prison, on the outskirts of Istanbul, since he was detained Oct. 18, 2017, accused of financing the protests. He and other defendants denied all the accusations and are expected to appeal the verdicts.

Sudan violence: Sudan’s military deployed further troops to West Darfur province to help stop tribal fighting that claimed the lives of more than 175 people over the past five days, officials and aid agencies said Monday.

The peak of the fighting between Arabs and the African Masalit tribe was Sunday in the town of Kreinik, about 50 miles east of the provincial capital of Genena. The clashes eventually reached Genena where authorities declared a nightly curfew in the main market, according to the U.N.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the violence that grew out of the killing of two Arab people Thursday in Kreinik by unknown assailants.

At least 168 people were killed, and 89 others were wounded on Sunday alone, according to the General Coordination for Refugees and Displaced in Darfur.