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Turkish lawmakers on Thursday began debating a bill that bans all alcohol advertising and tightens restrictions on sales of such beverages — a proposal the government insists is aimed at protecting the young from the ills of spirits but which secularists say is an example of the Islamic-based ruling party's encroachment on personal freedoms. The proposal bars the sale of alcohol anywhere within 100 meters (yards) of mosques, schools and other educational centers, which could lead to the eventual cancellation of several establishments' alcohol licenses. Advertising alcoholic products in any form would also be banned, and there would be stricter penalties for drunken driving. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a pious Muslim whose ruling party is rooted in Turkey's Islamist movement, has made no secret of his aim to curtail alcohol consumption in this predominantly Muslim, but secular country, saying it is his constitutional duty to protect the well-being of the young. Islam prohibits the consumption of alcohol. Since coming to power in 2002, the ruling party has imposed high taxes on alcoholic beverages, banned television ads and forbidden drink companies from sponsoring sports events. Turkish Airlines, the country's national carrier, recently stopped serving alcoholic drinks on some of its flights. Secular opponents of the bill say Erdogan — who is sometimes accused of authoritarian tendencies — is increasingly meddling in more liberal lifestyles. They say the measure is an affront to personal choices, and some accuse his ruling party of trying to gradually impose an Islamic agenda. "No one can be forced to drink or not to drink. This is a religious and ideological imposition," Musa Cam, a legislator from the secular, main opposition party said in a speech in Parliament. "This is not a struggle against the ills of alcohol but is an attempt to re-design the society according to their belief and lifestyle." Under the bill, alcohol companies would no longer be allowed to promote their brands and logos, while all liquor bottles sold in Turkey would display warning signs about the harms of alcohol, similar to those found on cigarette packages. London-based spirits company, Diageo, which acquired Turkey's leading drinks company, Mey Icki, in 2011, released a statement Thursday saying that it shares the government's concerns about alcohol consumption but that it was seeking a meeting with officials to "present alternative views" on "fair, balanced and responsible" regulation. The company added that it had bought Mey Icki believing it was investing in a country "that encouraged foreign investments." Erdogan frequently cites Turkey's constitution in saying that the state is responsible for protecting the young from alcohol, drugs and gambling and insists he is committed to secular politics and to Turkey's bid to join the European Union. In a conference addressing policies on alcohol in April, Erdogan caused an uproar by declaring that ayran, a watered-down yogurt drink, was Turkey's national drink, contrary to the widely held belief that raki — an aniseed-based alcoholic drink — was the nation's traditional beverage.

South Sudan's president is criticizing the International Criminal Court, saying the court is designed to humiliate African leaders. Salva Kiir spoke Thursday during a visit by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who faces ICC charges related to Kenya's post-election violence in 2007-08 that killed more than 1,000 people. Kiir said that South Sudan — the world's newest country — will not sign the Rome Statute that binds countries to the ICC process despite offers of "assistance" in exchange for signing it. Kiir and Kenyatta also discussed a planned transport corridor that is to run from Kenya's coastal of city of Lamu into South Sudan. A proposed pipeline would be used to transport South Sudan's oil to the coast without having to go through Sudan.

Election officials in the Cayman Islands say the opposition party has won nine of 18 seats, one short of a majority needed to control the British territory's legislature. The results released Thursday mean that attorney Alden McLaughlin's People's Progressive Movement will be the dominant force in a coalition government. Negotiations to choose the next leader are set to begin. Political analysts say McLaughlin is the presumed pick. A former premier who was ousted from leadership last year amid a corruption probe won re-election to his seat. But McKeeva Bush's United Democratic Party won just three seats overall. Outgoing Premier Juliana O'Connor-Connolly was the lone member of her party to win re-election. Independents will fill the rest of the seats, including four candidates endorsed by political advocacy group Coalition for Cayman.

A criminal court in Macedonia's capital has sentenced 86 employees of a road management company to prison terms ranging from eight months to more than six years for involvement in a massive highway toll scam. A court announcement says the defendants — all employees of the Makedonija Pat company, which manages the national roads and highways — were found guilty Thursday of forging receipts for toll payments. The prosecution alleged the defendants made about 1.7 million euros from the scam. The main suspect in the case was sentenced to six years and three months in prison. He and three other men convicted as organizers of the group are to remain in custody pending the outcome of an expected appeal. The remaining defendants will be held under house arrest.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde is facing questions at a special Paris court Thursday over her role in the 400 million euro ($520 million) pay-off to a controversial businessman when she was France's finance minister. The court hearing threatens to sully the reputations of both Lagarde and France. The payment was made to well-connected entrepreneur Bernard Tapie as part of a private arbitration process to settle a dispute with state-owned bank Credit Lyonnais over the botched sale of Adidas in the 1990s. It is seen by many in France as an example of the cozy relationship between big money and big power in France. Lagarde has earned praise for her negotiating skills as managing director of the IMF through Europe's debt crisis and is seen as a trailblazer for women leaders. Her decision to let the Adidas dispute go to private arbitration rather than be settled in the courts has drawn criticism, and French lawmakers asked magistrates to investigate. Lagarde, smiling at reporters, left her Paris apartment Thursday morning and appeared at a special court that handles cases involving government ministers. She has denied wrongdoing. At a press briefing Thursday in Washington, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said its executive board, at Lagarde's request, had already waived her diplomatic immunity to the extent necessary to enable her to appear before French authorities in the case. "The executive board has been briefed on this matter, including recently, and continues to express its confidence in the managing director's ability to effectively carry out her duties," he said. At the time of the payment, Tapie was close to then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was Lagarde's boss. Critics have said the deal was too generous to Tapie at the expense of the French state, and that the case shouldn't have gone to a private arbitration authority because it involved a state-owned bank. Investigators opened an inquiry in 2011 into possible charges of "complicity to embezzlement of public funds" and "complicity to forgery." The probe may not result in a trial. If it does, and if Lagarde were to be convicted, she could face up to 10 years in prison, according to prosecutors. The dispute over the Adidas deal had been dragging through French courts for years, and one question for Lagarde is why the government didn't let the courts continue to battle it out. "What she is being criticized for today is taking the disputes between the bank, Mr. Tapie and the French state out of the national court system and submitting them to three private arbitrators, who decided basically behind closed doors how to resolve the dispute," said Christopher Mesnooh, a lawyer from Field Fisher Waterhouse in Paris who is not connected to the case. Lagarde and the Washington-based IMF were aware of the probe when she took over as managing director of the fund from Dominique Strauss-Kahn in 2011. The IMF has expressed its confidence in Lagarde throughout the investigation. In March, French investigators searched Lagarde's Paris home. Her lawyer said at the time that she welcomed the search as a step toward proving her innocence. French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici told Le Monde newspaper this week that the government may seek to annul the arbitration deal if enough evidence emerges of wrongdoing. Tapie -- a flashy tycoon and former football club owner who has also tried his hand as an actor, singer and government minister -- insists that he deserved the settlement. He says the investigation into the deal is "bogus," a politically motivated hunt by the governing Socialists against Sarkozy's conservatives. Tapie himself may be targeted in a separate probe. "Lagarde's fate doesn't concern me," Tapie said on Europe-1 radio Thursday. "When evidence is discovered, then we'll talk."