At least 90 civilians, including 25 children have been "massacred" in the town of Houla, in Homs province, rights activists claimed on Saturday. Houla was heavily bombarded by regime forces on Friday the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
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.
Around 1,400 French soldiers will stay on in Afghanistan after the planned withdrawal of 2,000 combat troops later this year, François Hollande announced on Friday. The soldiers will remain in the war-torn country to help with training and logistics.
Barcelona marked the end of manager Pep Guardiola's reign with an emphatic 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in Spain's Kings Cup final on Friday. The triumph was Guardiola's 14th trophy in his eight year spell in charge of the Catalan giants.
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...
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.
