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Police, Judiciary & Military Personnel Detained Over Turkey Coup

Turkish officials say that nearly 8,000 police officers have been suspended on suspicion of having links to the coup attempt at the weekend.

Some 6,000 members of the judiciary and military, including generals, have been detained.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to purge state bodies of the “virus” that had caused the revolt.

The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, has stressed the importance of democratic rule. Speaking in Brussels where he has been meeting European foreign ministers, Mr Kerry said the US stood squarely on the side of the elected leadership in Turkey: “We will certainly support bringing perpetrators of the coup to justice – but we also caution against a reach that goes well beyond that.”

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that 208 “martyrs” had lost their lives during the failed coup attempt, including 60 police, three soldiers and 145 civilians. Another 1,491 were injured, he said. Twenty-four alleged coup plotters were killed, Mr Yildirim said – a smaller number than Turkish officials previously reported.

Three years ago when the AK Party government began its fight against Fethullah Gulen – a cleric in self-imposed exile in the US, who was a close ally of Mr Erdogan for years – it began with the police department. The government knew where to find Gulen supporters, in part because it had helped them to take positions within the police when they were still allies. When the fight against Gulen movement started thousands of police were moved sideways into roles where they would not harm the government.

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Prime Minister Theresa May Says The UK Must Defeat Terrorism

Theresa May says the UK must redouble its efforts to defeat terrorism, as she condemned the “brutal murderers” behind “horrifying” attacks like that in Nice.

The prime minister said Britain stood “shoulder to shoulder” with France after a lorry drove into a crowd killing at least 84 and injuring 50.

Downing Street says a “small number” of Britons were injured in Nice.

The family of a Scottish couple missing in Nice since the attack have posted urgent appeals for information online. Carole Annie Cowan, 27, and her husband Ross Cowan, 30, were in the French city on holiday. Carole’s sister Amy Stanton, from Helensburgh, said she had reported the couple missing to the UK Foreign Office, and posted an urgent appeal for information to the SOS Nice page on Facebook.

A number of Britons in Nice have described “horrendous” scenes as the lorry ploughed into packed crowds gathered for Bastille Day celebrations. The driver was later shot dead. The Foreign Office advised any Britons in the area to contact friends and family to let them know they are safe. The British embassy has opened a crisis centre with a 24 hour number: 0033 1 4451 3100. The French authorities have also set up a hotline: 0033 1 4317 5646.

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Truck Attack In Nice Leaves 84 Dead

At least 84 people have died, including children, after a lorry slammed through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the southern French city of Nice.

The driver ploughed on for 2km (1.2 miles) on the Promenade des Anglais at about 23:00 local time, before being shot dead by police.

Witnesses say the speeding lorry swerved and zigzagged in an apparent attempt to hit more people. Police reportedly found guns and grenades inside the lorry.

President Francois Hollande, who has now arrived in Nice, said the attack was of “an undeniable terrorist nature”.

A state of emergency, in place since November’s Paris attacks carried out by militant from the Islamic State group, in which 130 people died, has been extended by three months.

What Witnesses Saw

“I heard lots of screams and everybody was running in different directions. I didn’t know what was going on, it felt surreal and I didn’t move but thought it must be some kind of practical joke. “Then I saw the truck coming straight at me swerving all over the place. It was perhaps 50 yards away. After that there was no conscious thought, my body took over, time slowed down and I ran and thank God I got out of the way,” said Pouya, from Toronto.

Wassim Bouhlel, a Nice resident, said: “It zigzagged – you had no idea where it was going. My wife… a metre away… she was dead. The lorry ripped through everything… poles, trees. We have never seen anything like it. Some people were hanging on the door and tried to stop it.”

Nader el-Shafei told the BBC he saw the driver face-to-face for about a minute: “He was very nervous… looking for something around him, I kept yelling at him and waving my hands to stop… he picked up his gun and started to shoot police.” Afterwards he said he ran towards the beach with others, fearing the driver, who has then shot by police, would detonate the lorry.

Nice residents and tourists were among those who died in the night-time attack. Two American citizens, a Ukrainian and a Russian are among the 84 victims. About 50 people were also injured, 18 critically.

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Theresa May Reveals New Cabinet In Her First Full Day As Prime Minister

Michael Gove has been sacked from the government as Prime Minister Theresa May puts together her new team, in her first full day in Downing Street.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has also gone, as well as Culture Secretary John Whittingdale.

Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson said he was “humbled” having been named new foreign secretary, in a surprise move. Philip Hammond became chancellor, Amber Rudd is home secretary, and Eurosceptic David Davis is new Brexit secretary. Jeremy Hunt is no longer health secretary – but he has not been sacked and will be given another cabinet position.

Mr Gove – who was one of the leading figures in the campaign to leave the EU – stood for the Conservative leadership, but he was eliminated in the final round of voting by MPs in third place. His surprise move to stand for the leadership and therefore to become prime minister effectively dashed Boris Johnson’s hopes of running.

Meanwhile, Mr Hammond – Mrs May’s first cabinet appointment on Wednesday – said, when asked about his first priorities as chancellor, that there would be “no emergency Budget”.

The former foreign secretary said he would work closely with the Bank of England and other economic experts and make “carefully considered decisions over the summer”, followed by an Autumn Statement “in the normal way”.

Before the EU referendum, his predecessor George Osborne said he would have to cut public spending and increase taxes in an emergency Budget if the UK voted for Brexit.

On Wednesday Mrs May told European leaders she was committed to the UK leaving the EU. In a series of congratulatory phone calls taken by Mrs May, the UK’s second female prime minister spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

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Key Leader Of IS Confirmed Dead

A news agency linked to so-called Islamic State has confirmed the death of key leader Omar Shishani, whom the US said it killed in March.

The Amaq news agency said Shishani was killed in combat in the town of Shirqat, south of Mosul in Iraq.

The Pentagon said in March he had died from injuries sustained in a US air strike in north-eastern Syria.

Shishani’s real name was Tarkhan Batirashvili but he was also known as Omar the Chechen. The red-bearded jihadist was said to be a close military adviser to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The confirmation came on the Amaq website, which IS regularly uses to issue news and which had denied the Pentagon’s claims in March. Amaq said he died trying to repel forces campaigning to retake the city of Mosul.

It did not specify when, but the statement conflicts with the US claims made in March. It said its strike on 4 March had taken place near the north-eastern town of Shaddadi, where Shishani had reportedly been sent to bolster local IS forces.

Last year, the US offered a $5m (£3.5m) reward for Shishani.

It said he had held numerous senior military positions within the group, including “minister of war”.