School gunman kills 3 people in Brazil
BRASILIA, Brazil -- A former student armed with a semi-automatic pistol and wearing a bullet-resistant vest fatally shot two teachers and a student, and wounded 13 after barging into two schools Friday in southeastern Brazil, authorities said.
The shootings took place at campuses located on the same street in Aracruz, Espirito Santo state, the state's public security secretariat said in a statement.
Approximately four hours later, the shooter, identified as a 16-year-old boy who used to study at the public school, was arrested by police, Espirito Santo Gov. Renato Casagrande said. Authorities did not release the suspect's name.
Security camera footage showed the assailant wearing a bullet-resistant vest and using a semi-automatic pistol for the attacks, Espirito Santo public security secretary Marcio Celante said. Casagrande said the weapon belongs to the former student's father, a military police officer.
In addition to the fatalities, 13 people were wounded, including nine instructors, said Celante, who noted that in the public school the shooter gained access to the teachers lounge after breaking a lock.
Deaths hit 310 in Java quake; 24 missing
CIANJUR, Indonesia -- The death toll from an earthquake that struck Indonesia's Java island early this week rose to 310 after rescuers found more bodies under landslides, an official said. At least 24 people remain missing.
Bodies were recovered Friday in two areas of mountainous Cianjur district where landslides triggered by Monday's quake brought tons of mud, rocks and broken trees, said Henri Alfiandi, chief of the National Search and Rescue Agency.
More than 1,400 rescuers have been searching through the rubble since the magnitude 5.6 quake, which injured more than 2,000 people.
The head of the National Disaster Management Agency, Suharyanto, who uses one name, said rescuers will continue searching until rebuilding begins.
Suharyanto said distribution of food and other aid is improving and is reaching more people in 110 evacuation locations.
The disaster agency said the earthquake damaged at least 56,000 houses and displaced at least 36,000 people. Hundreds of public facilities were destroyed, including 363 schools.
Fearing Kurds, Iran beefs up Iraq border
BAGHDAD -- Iran has sent additional units of special forces to fortify its northern border with Iraq and clamp down on what it says is infiltration by Kurdish opposition groups, Iranian state media reported Friday.
Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, chief of ground forces of the paramilitary Iranian Revolutionary Guard, said "armored and special forces" units had been deployed to west and north-west provinces to bolster existing border security, the official IRNA news agency reported.
The deployment aims to prevent infiltration and the smuggling of weapons in the north by Kurdish opposition groups exiled in Iraq that Tehran claims is orchestrating anti-government protests. It is a claim the Kurdish groups deny and to date Iran has not provided any evidence to support it.
Iran has several military bases near the Iraqi border and forces have been present there on a rotating basis for decades.
The troop movement also comes after Iraq issued directives for boosting security along its side of the border to prevent further bombardment by Iran, according to a statement issued by Iraq's military spokesman Maj. Gen. Yahya Rasool. Kurdish opposition groups have bases in Iraq's Kurdish-run northern region.
Turks halt women's anti-violence rally
ISTANBUL -- Turkish police broke up a rally calling for an end to violence against women and for Turkey's return to a treaty aimed at protecting them, detaining dozens of people Friday.
The demonstrators tried to march along Istanbul's main pedestrian street, Istiklal, to mark the Nov. 25 International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, defying an order by authorities banning the rally on security and public order grounds.
Police blocked off protesters from entering streets leading to Istiklal, surrounded groups of protesters and then apprehended them. An Associated Press journalist saw three buses full of detained protesters being taken to a nearby police station.
The Istanbul Governor's office announced Friday that it was banning live music, exhibitions and food stands being set up on Istiklal.
Earlier this year, parliament ratified a bill increasing prison terms for crimes where the victim is a woman and made stalking a crime punishable by prison.
Speaking at an event marking the international day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to "constantly raise the bar" in preventing violence against women. Still, human-rights groups say measures in place fail to adequately protect women or hold perpetrators to account.
At least 349 women have been killed so far this year in Turkey, according to the advocacy group We Will Stop Femicide.
Riot police surround a group of women protesting Friday to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, in Istanbul, Turkey. (AP/Kemal Aslan)