International

NIGERIAN police fired tear gas on Friday in a bid to disperse student protesters demonstrating over a name change at their university, authorities and witnesses said.

PIRATES attacked a Greek-owned oil tanker off Nigeria Friday but failed to hijack the ship after the crew hid in a safe room, the International Maritime Bureau said.

A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior confirmed an American citizen who was kidnapped in the West African nation of Benin earlier this month has been freed and two of his abductors are in custody.

THE prosecutor for the third district of Bamako Sombe Thera announced the opening of an inquiry against some senior and junior Malian soldiers.

EGYPTIAN state television will broadcast live the verdict and sentencing on Saturday of ex-president Hosni Mubarak, his sons and security chiefs in a murder and corruption trial, official media reported.

THE United Nations’ top human rights official has warned that Syria could descend into civil war unless the international community supports a peace plan and an investigation into the killing of more than 100 civilians in Houla last week.

The world trade in ammunition now tops $4 billion a year and is growing at a faster rate than the global trade in firearms, the Oxfam aid agency said.

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) will hold a summit of top women leaders from around the globe during the UN Rio Conference on Sustainable Development in June.