Briefs | US: Veterans Day marked with parades, somber ceremonies

Americans honored their military veterans Saturday with a parade in the wintry cold of New York City, where one World War II vet thanked onlookers for remembering, and in a somber ceremony in a Texas community bloodied by a church massacre where almost half of those killed had ties to the U.S. Air Force. Across the Atlantic, millions of people in Britain and France paused to remember war victims as they marked Armistice Day, which this year was the 99th anniversary of the end of World War I.

Spain: Catalan lawmaker freed from jail after posting bail

A top Catalan lawmaker on Friday left a Madrid prison where she spent the night after posting the bail a Spanish judge imposed as part of a wide-ranging rebellion investigation stemming from Catalonia’s declaration of independence. Spain’s Supreme Court said the judge who jailed and set bail Thursday for Catalonia Parliament speaker Carme Forcadell, freed her after the 150,000 euros (USD175,000) bond was registered.

Turkey: Plan to kidnap cleric Gulen from US denied

Turkey yesterday dismissed as “ludicrous and groundless” a report that Turkish officials may have discussed kidnapping a U.S.-based Muslim cleric in exchange for millions of dollars. On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Special Counsel Robert Mueller was investigating an alleged plot involving former U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and his son to forcibly remove Fethullah Gulen and hand him over to Ankara for as much as USD15 million.