ISTANBUL (AP) – Officers from the Istanbul Police Counter-Terrorism Department launched simultaneous raids on Thursday at 124 locations and detained over a hundred suspected members of the Islamic State group who were allegedly planning attacks against Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) – Legislators in Algeria voted to declare France’s colonization of the North African country a crime, approving a law that calls for restitution of property taken by France during its 130-year rule, among other demands seeking to redress historical wrongs.

The Kremlin on Thursday said it was in contact with the French authorities over the fate of a French political scholar serving a three-year sentence in Russia and reportedly facing new charges of espionage.