TURKEY
ISTANBUL — Tens of thousands of people thronged Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Saturday, and thousands more turned out in Ankara in protests that have presented Turkey’s prime minister with the first serious challenge to his leadership entered a second week. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party dismissed the protests as an opposition bid to topple the government, and rejected calls for early elections. The rioting was sparked by outrage over a police crackdown on an environmental protest May 31. (AP)
CHINA
Suicide explosion kills 47 aboard bus
BEIJING — An unemployed man intent on killing himself set off an explosion that engulfed a bus in flames and killed 47 people in Xiamen, according to state-run news reports. The reports identified the man as Chen Shuizong. He had a suicide note in which he expressed frustration, the reports said. Chen is believed to have died in the blast. (New York Times)
FRANCE
PARIS — Thousands marched Saturday to honor an antifascist activist who died after a brawl with far-right militants, as authorities opened a manslaughter inquiry against the 20-year-old skinhead suspected in the the killing, which has shocked France. (AP)