Boat capsizes; at least 48 killed

A cruise boat carrying up to 150 people capsized Thursday night in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Bahrain, and at least 48 bodies were recovered, the country’s coast guard chief said.

At least 63 people survived.

The official Bahrain News Agency said the al-Dana overturned less than a mile off the coast. Television footage showed the boat capsized but not sunk.

U.S. helicopters and divers joined the rescue operation. Bahrain, an island nation on the western side of the Persian Gulf, is home to the Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Jerusalem

Suicide bomber kills 3 Israelis

A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up just outside a Jewish settlement in the northern West Bank on Thursday night, killing three Israelis, authorities said.

Israeli officials said it appeared that the bomber hitched a ride with the Israelis, perhaps by disguising himself as a religious Jew, and then set off the explosives as the vehicle approached the Kedumim settlement.

An offshoot of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which is tied to the Fatah movement led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Ankara, Turkey

Demonstrations enter third day

Thousands of police and demonstrators clashed for a third day Thursday in the worst street violence to hit the country’s restive Kurdish region in more than a decade.

At least three people have been killed and more than 200 people wounded in protests that erupted Tuesday in the city of Diyarbakir during funeral ceremonies for members of the outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers Party who died in fighting with the Turkish Army last weekend.

Fresh fighting broke out in Diyarbakir on Thursday. The protests spread to the nearby city of Batman where about 5,000 demonstrators chanting pro-PKK slogans threw firebombs at businesses and smashed the windows of banks and government offices.