Midday Roundup: Turkey blames ISIS for bombing in Istanbul

Terror in Turkey. Turkish officials are blaming Islamic State (ISIS) militants for a suicide bombing in Istanbul this morning that killed 10 people and left 15 injured. Many of the victims were foreign tourists, with at least nine of the dead from Germany. Investigators said the bomber was a 28-year-old Syrian man. He detonated his device at a park where tourists come to visit a landmark obelisk near the historic Blue Mosque. ISIS has yet to claim responsibility for the attack, but the terror group did claim a similar bombing yesterday at a Baghdad mall that left at least 18 people dead. Gunmen stormed into the Jawhara Mall after setting off a car bomb and launching a suicide attack at the mall’s entrance. Iraqi officials initially described the attack as a hostage situation, estimating 50 people were trapped inside the complex. But Iraqi forces soon surrounded the building and landed troops on the roof. They clashed with attackers inside, killing two of them, and arresting the other four. Also on Monday, a car bomb in a crowded market in southeast Baghdad killed 5 people and wounded 12 others.

Starvation in Syria. World Health Organization aid convoys rolled into several besieged Syrian cities Monday, bring food and medical supplies to hungry and traumatized residents. The international organization appealed for safe passage to Madaya, Foua, and Kafraya. The plight of residents caught in the fighting between Syrian government forces and rebel groups gained national attention last week after a reporter posted video on social media showing a severely malnourished boy asking for help. Aid workers say people are starving to death, and many are suffering from typically non-life threatening medical conditions that doctors don’t have medicine to treat. The convoys delivered a month’s supply of food but have no guarantee they can return when that runs out. Many residents were too weak to leave their homes to get food, prompting aid workers to go door-to-door to make deliveries.

Unconstitutional in Florida. In an 8-1 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court declared Florida’s death penalty unconstitutional because it allows the trial judge to impose the sentence, rather than a jury. “The Sixth Amendment requires a jury, not a judge, to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the majority opinion. “A jury’s mere recommendation is not enough.” Convicted murderer Timothy Lee Hurst brought the case against the state. After his conviction in the 1998 murder of his manager at a Popeye’s restaurant in Pensacola, the jury could not agree on imposing the death penalty. The judge sentenced him to death anyway. The state argued its system met constitutional requirements because the jury determines whether someone is eligible for the death penalty. The state supreme court must now decide whether Hurst deserves a new trial.

Abducted in Mali. Armed men abducted a Swiss missionary in Mali on Friday. It’s the second time Beatrice Stockly has been taken from her home in Timbuktu. Unknown abductors spirited her away in 2012 only to set her free several days later. Stockly immediately returned to her mission work. Although no group has claimed responsibility for taking Stockly, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) frequently uses kidnappings and ransom demands as a way to raise money. Islamic militants have ramped up activity in Mali in recent months, attacking a hotel in the capital, Bamako, in November in a gun battle that killed 20 mostly foreign guests. After her first kidnapping, the Swiss governments warned Stockly against continuing to work and live in Mali. Last month, a gunman shot three people outside a Christian radio station in Timbuktu, and a well-known jihadist called for a return to Sharia law in the region.

Closed in Cuba? The Obama administration is pledging to shut down the terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with or without congressional approval. On Fox News Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said the administration would submit a closure plan to Congress but would then consider executive action if lawmakers don’t act. McDonough suggested closing the prison would strengthen U.S. national security. But K.T. McFarland, former deputy assistant secretary of defense, rejects the claim that Islamic terrorists use Gitmo as a recruiting tool. And she believes the president has designs on not just the terrorist prison, but also the entire Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. After Cuba regains control of the base, McFarland fears the Communist country would lease it to Russia or China.

WORLD Radio’s Jim Henry and Kent Covington contributed to this report.