Turkish PM to protesters - Stop now

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan flew back to a Turkey rocked by days of anti-government unrest on Friday and declared before a sea of flag-waving supporters at Istanbul airport: "These protests must end immediately." "No power but Allah can stop Turkey's rise," he told thousands who gathered in the early hours to greet him in the first pro-Erdogan rally since demonstrations began a week ago.

U.N. says half of Syria's population will need aid by end of year

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations expects 10.25 million Syrians, half the population, will need humanitarian aid by the end of 2013 at a cost of more than $5 billion (3.2 billion pounds), U.N. humanitarian agencies said on Friday. The new forecasts, in an updated Syria response plan, include more than a doubling of the refugee population to 3.45 million from 1.6 million now, spread across Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt.

Iraq bomber hits Iranian pilgrims, at least nine dead

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber rammed his car into a bus carrying Iranian Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims in Iraq on Friday, killing at least nine people in an attack likely carried out by Sunni Muslim insurgents trying to ignite sectarian conflict. Al Qaeda's local wing and other Sunni insurgents have been on the offensive since the start of the year in an attempt - spurred in part by the mainly Sunni rebellion in neighbouring Syria - to provoke the kind of Shi'ite-Sunni bloodshed that killed thousands in Iraq in 2006-2007.

Putin tends to image with public split, but will he remarry?

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Hours after President Vladimir Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, told Russians their marriage was over, an anchorman on a satirical on-line show gravely announced the latest news: Putin has named Lyudmila "acting First Lady". It was a joke, of course, but Russians say there's a touch of truth in every joke: While the reasons for the separation may be deeply personal, the staged admission of a long-suspected estrangement was Putin's latest pragmatic political gambit.

Former dental hygienist says she had "true love" for Berlusconi

MILAN (Reuters) - A former dental hygienist accused of procuring a minor for paid sex with Silvio Berlusconi rejected the charge on Friday and said her relationship with the 76-year-old media billionaire had been based on "true love". Nicole Minetti is on trial alongside Emilio Fede, a former news anchor in Berlusconi's Mediaset broadcasting empire, and Lele Mora, a show business agent in a case running alongside Berlusconi's own trial for allegedly paying for sex with a minor.

Czech govt exempts entrepreneurs, firms from tax after flooding

PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech finance ministry will exempt entrepreneurs and companies hit by this week's floods from paying some income tax, it said on Friday. The largest floods in over a decade swept through the central European country after days of heavy rain, killing 10 people. Austria, Germany, Slovakia and Poland have also been hit.

Bissau leader's new cabinet retains military influence

BISSAU (Reuters) - Guinea-Bissau's interim leader appointed a new cabinet late on Thursday, adding a number of smaller parties to the government ahead of elections promised by the end of 2013 but leaving the military in charge of the key defence and interior ministries. Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo was named caretaker president of the tiny West African nation - a known narcotics trafficking hub - under an agreement between regional bloc ECOWAS and a military junta which staged a coup in April 2012.

France bans far-right rally after student killing

PARIS (Reuters) - French authorities banned a far-right youth rally set for Saturday in the southern city of Toulouse after the killing of a left-wing student this week sparked alarm over street violence by ultra-right groups. Toulouse's Socialist mayor had expressed concern about a planned torch lit evening march to commemorate the victory of a Christian army in 721 over Muslims besieging the city, after a clash between ultra-right and far-left youths in Paris on Wednesday led to the death of a 19-year-old student.

Zimbabwe agrees to IMF monitoring programme - Finance minister

HARARE (Reuters) - The IMF has approved Zimbabwe's plan to clear billions of dollars of arrears, while Harare has agreed to enter a staff-monitored programme with the Fund, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said on Friday. The move marks a major step towards Zimbabwe normalising relations with the International Monetary Fund, which suspended its voting rights in 2003 over policy differences with President Robert Mugabe and non-payment of arrears.

Pope Francis says he didn't want to be pope

ROME (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Friday he had not wanted to become pontiff and that he had decided against moving into the luxurious papal apartments in order to preserve his mental health. Meeting thousands of children from Jesuit schools across Italy and Albania, Francis held a question-and-answer session in which one girl, Teresa, asked him if he had wanted to become the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.