Demonstrations are planned in Turkey one year after the Gezi Park protests – American cops drop a grenade next to a baby boy’s face – Pakistan and India arrest more suspects in their respective cases of horrible crimes against women – A conciliatory gesture from one of the last players in the Cold War – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Nationwide demonstrations are planned in Turkey today to mark the anniversary of the Taksim Square and Gezi Park protests.  Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is calling on young people to avoid these protests, and has stationed thousands of cops and dozens of water cannons are Taksim Square in advance.  The initial small protest a year ago was against plans to build a mall in the park exploded into nationwide strife after the Erdogan government’s bloody crackdown.  Several were killed and thousands were injured in weeks of unrest.

A 19-month old baby boy is in a coma and suffering severe burns after police dropped a “flash-bang” grenade in his crib.  This happened during a 3:00 AM drugs raid in rural Habersham County, Georgia, in America’s southeast.  The officers involved are reportedly “devastated” that little Bou Phonesavanh was injured – but his mother said that during the raid, the cops kept denying he was even injured, until she saw the horror in his crib.  Authorities did not make any arrests, nor did they find anything at the house during the raid.

Thailand junta leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha says democratic elections are at least 15 months away.  “The country comes first, democracy can follow,” said Chan-ocha, “We believe people will choose our Kingdom before a flawed democratic system.”  Not surprisingly, Chan-ocha’s blueprint heavily favors the conservative, royalist, anti-democracy protesters who haven’t won an election since 1999 at the expense of the overthrown government that brought healthcare, education, and development to the poorer areas of the country.

Police in Pakistan arrested four more suspects in the stoning death of a pregnant woman outside the High Court in Lahore.  The woman’s father was already arrested for orchestrating the so-called “honor killing”, in retaliation for Farzana Parveen’s marriage to a man the family didn’t approve.  Hundreds of women are killed in Pakistan every year in “honor killings” that don’t get international attention, and activists say they often get light sentences.

Two cops in India were sacked for refusing to search for two missing teenage girls, who it turned out were gang raped and hanged from mango trees in Uttar Pradesh.  New Delhi also used its authority to set-up a special fast-track court to prosecute the crime.  India is increasingly outraged by its rape epidemic, and this case is even more of a hot button because the suspects and cops are from the region’s upper caste, while the victims and their families are from the lower castes.

Indian police also arrested three more people who allegedly stalked and viciously beat the mother of one of the rape victims, because she refused to withdraw her complaint against the suspects.  The father, a brother, and a cousin of the lead suspect in the gang rapes followed the victim’s mother away from her house and beat her relentlessly.  The woman is hospitalized in critical condition numerous broken bones and internal injuries.

The husband of the woman sentenced to hang for apostasy is asking the world for support, hoping that international pressure will save Meriam Ibrahim.  Daniel Wani has been a US citizen since 2005 – but he’s already gotten a boost from UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who says Ibrahim’s treatment has been “barbaric”.  Meriam Ibrahim was sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery and to death for apostasy this month because she identifies as a Christian, although the father she never knew was a Muslim.

One of the World Cup cities is dealing with a Dengue Fever epidemic – it’s Campinas, about 100 kilometers out of Sao Paulo.  The mosquito-borne illness infected some 32,384 people this year, almost three times the last bad year in 2007.  Dengue fever is like chronic influenza with severe headaches, muscle and joint pain, vomiting, and a rash – and in the rare, worst cases it can be fatal.

A court is ordering Argentina’s Vice-President Amado Boudou to answer allegations that he illegally used his clout to gain control of the company that prints the nation’s currency.  Boudou was seen as a possible successor to Christina Fernandez, who is serving her last term as President.  Not so much these days.  After being questioned by prosecutors next month, judges will decide if there’s evidence to proceed to formal criminal charges.

Five months of government air raids using the deadly, low-tech barrel bombs have killed some 2,000 people in Syria’s besieged city of Aleppo just this year.  14 people are dying every day.  More than 150,000 people have been killed in the Syrian Civil War since it erupted three years ago.

Suspected Boko Haram militants shot and killed a traditional leader in northern Nigeria.  The Emir of Gwoza Shehu Mustapha Idris Timta was ambused in his car.  Two other Emirs escaped.  “Emir” is a title used in the Muslim world, although not an official religious position.  The three men were targeted because they oppose Boko Haram’s insurgency.

Opposition candidate Peter Mutharika is officially the winner of Malawi's disputed presidential election.  Outgoing President Joyce Banda came in third, claiming that the electronic voting system was rigged.  The high court and Malawi Electoral Commission say there’s no evidence of that.  Banda’s ruling party was tarnished by a corruption scandal.  Mutharika will take over running one of the poorest countries in Africa whose top source of income is foreign aid.

Poland’s last Communist leader Wojciech Jaruzelski was buried with fellow World War II veterans after a state-arranged funeral.  Outside the church and cemetery, protesters jeered and condemned him as a traitor and a puppet of the Kremlin for declaring martial law in 1981 to crush the Solidarity movement.  But Lech Walesa, the leader of that movement who was jailed by Jarulezski and would later replace him as Poland’s first post-Cold War leader, attended the services in the front pew.