Violence flared in Syria on Friday with dozens of civilians reportedly killed across the country. Rights activists claimed at least 50 people, including 13 children, were ‘massacred’ when Syrian forces shelled the town of Houla, in Homs province.
French President François Hollande made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Friday to meet with French troops and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Hollande defended his decision to withdraw French forces from the country by the end of the year.
Violent riots against immigration from Africa shook Tel Aviv on Wednesday night, prompting a counter-protest on Thursday, but also leading government officials to call for the immediate deportation of Israel’s tens of thousands of illegal African immigrants. Read more...
Activists in Azerbaijan took to the streets to protest ongoing human rights abuses as the country prepares to host Saturday's Eurovision Song Contest. Demonstrators fear mass arrests once the foreign media depart after the competition.
Spain’s troubled bank, Bankia, asked the government for a 19-billion euro bailout on Friday, just hours after credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded Bankia and four other banks to junk status.
A group of 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims abducted in Syria on Tuesday were freed unharmed, Lebanon’s foreign minister said Friday. Their kidnapping had triggered violent protests in Shiite-dominated suburbs in Beirut.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter has tasked a panel led by German football legend Franz Beckenbauer with finding an alternative to penalty kicks as a way to settle matches, saying the sport “lost its essence as a team sport” with penalty shootouts.
China on Friday condemned a US report about Chinese human rights violations, calling it “fraught with prejudice”, and said that problems in the US meant it had no right to lecture other countries.
A documentary by French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy (pictured) about the rebel overthrow of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is being screened at the Cannes Film Festival Friday. Lévy was instrumental in persuading France to support the rebellion.
A former store worker has confessed to brutally murdering 6-year-old Etan Patz in a basement 33 years ago, New York police announced on Friday. The arrest of Pedro Hernandez appears to solve one of the United States' most notorious child killings.
