NEWS OF THE DAY
Hurricane: Forecasters say Matthew has become a Category 5 hurricane, the strongest in the Atlantic since Hurricane Felix in 2007. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says Matthew is packing top sustained winds of 160 mph after gaining new strength Friday. The storm is about 80 miles northwest of Punta Gallinas, Colombia, and about 440 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica.
Mexico violence: The sons of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman apparently launched an ambush on a military convoy using grenades and highpowered guns on Friday, killing five soldiers, officials said. The attack in northern Sinaloa state left two military vehicles completely burned and dead soldiers on a highway. It was apparently launched to free a wounded drug suspect being transported in an ambulance guarded by the convoy. The attack on the outskirts of Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state, was unusual as the Sinaloa cartel has been known to avoid direct confrontations with the army. Guzman headed the cartel until he was re-arrested in January. It is now run by his sons.
Burqa ban: Bulgaria’s Parliament has approved a law banning women from wearing veils that cover their faces in public. The law was pushed by the nationalist Patriotic Front coalition. Its co-leader, Krasimir Karakachanov, on Friday cited security reasons for the prohibition, saying “the burqa is more a uniform than a religious symbol.” The law was opposed by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, the third-largest party in Parliament, which has a substantial Muslim electorate. In protest, the group walked out of Parliament. Similar bans have been approved in other EU countries such as France, Netherlands and Belgium.
Turkey crackdown: Turkey’s opposition leader accused the government on Friday of using emergency powers from the aftermath of a failed coup to clamp down on dissenting voices, as authorities ordered 12 more news organizations to shut down. Turkey declared a state of emergency in the wake of the failed military coup on July 15, arresting thousands of people. On Thursday, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported the country’s broadcasting watchdog closed 12 more television stations for alleged links to terror organizations. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the opposition Republican Peoples’ Party, said the government was “opportunistically” using the coup to go after opponents.
Mayor assaulted: The pro-refugee mayor of a small city in northern Germany was assaulted outside a town hall meeting where the construction of a new asylum-seekers’ home was to be discussed, police said. Oersdorf municipal mayor Joachim Kebschull was hit in the head Thursday night by an unknown assailant with a piece of wood, the dpa news agency reported Friday. The 61-yearold was briefly knocked out and taken to the hospital but was later listed in good condition. It’s not known whether the attack was related to the mayor’s stance on accommodating asylum-seekers, but officials say he and other town authorities have received xenophobic threats. Mass slayings: A villager in southwestern China killed his parents and then 17 neighbors in an attempt to cover up his crime, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday. An investigation found that Yang Qingpei killed his parents in an argument over money Wednesday, Xinhua said. Fearing he would be identified as the killer, he then murdered 17 neighbors in the village of Yema in Yunnan province, Xinhua reported.