International

     A Turkish court on Wednesday handed down life sentences to 28 soldiers for trying to take control of Istanbul’s second airport during last year’s failed coup, local media reported. Eight were sentenced in Istanbul to aggravated life imprisonment, which carries harsher conditions and replaced the death penalty in Turkey, while the other 20 were given life sentences for “violating the constitution”, the private Dogan news agency said. The soldiers were convicted of trying to occupy by force Sabiha Gokcen International Airport on the Asian side of Istanbul on the night of the July 15, 2016 failed putsch.