Journalists get life sentences in Turkey

A court in Turkey sentenced six journalists to life in prison Friday for their alleged involvement in a failed 2016 coup attempt. The decision came shortly after another reporter whose imprisonment was controversial was conditionally released from custody.

Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan and Nazli Ilicak and three other media workers were convicted of crimes against the state, a charge that governments around the world are increasingly employing as a tactic to silence journalists who are critical of ruling authorities.

Press freedom groups around the world were quick to condemn the court’s ruling. Turkey is now the world’s No. 1 jailer of journalists, with more than 70 behind bars.

New leader optimistic

CAPETOWN, South Africa — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered a message of optimism and renewal Friday in his first state of the nation address, saying it’s time for South Africans to put discord behind them and that the country will “turn the tide” on corruption in state institutions this year.

Mr. Ramaphosa’s address capped a week in which he was elected by ruling party lawmakers after the resignation of Jacob Zuma, whose tenure was marked by corruption scandals.

Emergency declared

Ethiopia has declared a state of emergency, a day after Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned following months of protests by opponents of his government.

The decision was announced by the Council of Ministers, after it convened to discuss “safeguards to protect the constitution” amid insecurity in parts of the country, according to a statement on the stateowned Ethiopian Broadcasting Corp. website.

The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front has faced often deadly demonstrations since 2015. A state of emergency the following year failed to curb the turmoil mainly in the Oromia and Amhara regions, which are home to the biggest ethnic groups who say they’re excluded from political and economic power.

Canada mum on tax cuts

Canada’s finance minister, Bill Morneau, said his country’s tax rates remain competitive, even as a business group recommends his government follow U.S. cuts.

Mr. Morneau met Friday with private-sector economists in Toronto. He said they discussed the impact of U.S. tax changes as well as ongoing talks to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement. He declined to say if corporate tax cuts were on the table in Canada in the wake of the Trump administration’s tax overhaul.

Climbers may be limited

TOKYO— Japan’s Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures proposed a plan Thursday to reduce congestion on Mount Fuji by 12 percent to 25 percent per day during the peak period by lowering the number of climbers using two of the mountain’s four trails.

A scientific committee of the Mt. Fuji World Cultural Heritage council met Thursday in Tokyo. The two prefectures presented a plan to establish a daily threshold of 4,000 climbers for the Yoshida trail in Yamanashi and 2,000 climbers for the Fujinomiya trail in Shizuoka after which it would be deemed that there were too many climbers.