Colombia
Peace deal to be ratified
President Juan Manuel Santos said Friday he will have Colombia’s congress ratify a modified peace deal with the nation’s largest rebel group after voters rejected the first pact last month in a referendum. Speaking in Washington, Santos said implementing the accord in the shortest time possible would prevent a fragile cease-fire from falling apart. His comments came after two rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia were killed in combat with security forces during a confusing incident now being investigated by United Nations-sponsored monitors.
South Korea
Anti-Park protest planned
For the fourth straight weekend, masses of South Koreans were expected to descend on major avenues in downtown Seoul demanding an end to the presidency of Park Geun-hye, who prosecutors plan to question soon over an explosive political scandal. Police expected about 50,000 protesters to turn out on Saturday near City Hall and a boulevard in front of an old palace gate, where hundreds of thousands a week before marched in what may have been the country’s largest demonstration since it shook off dictatorship three decades ago. Critics accuse Park of undermining the country’s democracy by allowing a secretive confidante to manipulate power from the shadows and amass an illicit fortune.
Yemen
Shelling of market kills 21
More than 20 civilians were killed in the shelling of a market in the Yemeni city of Taiz, including a member of an international aid group, the group and medical officials said on Friday. Doctors Without Borders, known by the French acronym MSF, said its hospitals received 21 victims on Friday and 75 wounded.
France
Teen linked to French jihadi
French authorities say a teenager was arrested this week for allegedly being linked to a French jihadi who claimed responsibility for the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice on behalf of the Islamic State group. The Paris prosecutor’s office said Friday that the boy, 17, was detained in the town of Rennes and being questioned by a judge in Paris under a “criminal terrorist association” investigation. The office says the teen used social networks to communicate with Rachid Kassim, who was the public face of an IS video claiming responsibility for the July 14 truck rampage.
Compiled from wire reports.