NEWS In its first extended comment since the primary-school massacre in Connecticut last week, the United States' powerful gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, called on Friday for American schools to be patrolled by armed guards. “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,†said Wayne LaPierre, the N.R.A. vice president. Eric Lichtblau and Motoko Rich report from Washington.
Survivors of the Syrian military's use of cluster bombs, a weapon that is impossible to use precisely, describe the tactic as collective punishment, a mass reprisal against populations that are with the rebels. C.J. Chivers reports from Marea, Syria.
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teen ager who was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in October, has asked a provincial government to reverse its decision to name a college after her, citing concern for female students' safety, an official said Friday. Salman Masood reports from Islamabad.
German audiences know Ilka Bessin as Cindy from Marzahn, her louder, ruder and more profane alter ego, playing up the worst stereotypes of Germany's contemporary version of the welfare queen. Critics call her act lowbrow and worse, mixing high-minded attacks on her with patronizing depictions of her supposedly benighted fans; but those fans see her as a hero, one of them, one who made it. Nicholas Kulish reports from Berlin.
North Korea said on Friday that it had c harged an American citizen detained there with committing “hostile acts against the republic,†a crime punishable by years in prison. Choe Sang-Hun reports from Seoul.
Ceremonies in Guatemala and Mexico marked the close of a cycle in the Mayan calendar - not the apocalypse, despite hysteria elsewhere. Randal C. Archibold reports from Tulum, Mexico.
An appeals court in Milan on Friday overturned the conviction of three Google executives on charges of violating Italian privacy laws, in a decision that the company hailed as a victory for Internet freedom. Eric Pfanner reports from Paris.
SPORTS Suzy Favor Hamilton, a three-time Olympian middle-distance runner, shocked her admirers this week with the disclosure that she had been working as a $600-an-hour prostitute for an escort service. “I do not expect people to understand, but the reasons for doing this made sense to me at the time and were very much related to depression,†she wrote on Twitter. Jeré Longman reports.
ARTS An ambitious project by Dassault Systèmes, a French software company, in partnership with the Carnavalet Museum creates an interactive, 3-D, virtual-reality representation of Paris through the ages. One of its many lessons: The Bastille was a less imposing presence than it's often imagined to be. Eric Pfanner reports from Paris.
WINE How many dollops of sugar are there in that Champagne you're drinking? Eric Pfanner on wine.
