UN votes to boost Syria mission.
The UN Security Council has voted to increase the number of observers in Syria to 300 for three months.
A small UN team is currently in Syria to monitor a fragile ceasefire between government and rebel forces.
The UN resolution was unanimously approved by the 15-member council, as the monitors were allowed to visit the city of Homs for the first time.
The visit came amid a lull in fighting in the opposition stronghold, which has been under bombardment by the army.
Rebels said tanks had been temporarily hidden out of sight while the observers were in the city, and that shelling was likely to resume.
However amateur video posted on the internet shows gunfire breaking out during the visit and monitors being surrounded by Homs residents. It is not clear who is responsible for the firing.
A Homs activist calling himself Abo told the BBC that he and other activists had tried to protect the monitors.
"This is our first day of calm for months," he said. "The regime today didn't shell any area or open fire until the observers came here."
There is no word from the UN itself about the alleged incident.
Ban Ki-moon's call
The UN resolution was adopted following a debate about the conditions for deployment.
European states had said the unarmed observers should be sent only when Syria implemented its pledge to send troops and tanks back to barracks.
Russia - which is regarded as an ally of Damascus - simply emphasised the need to send more monitors to Syria quickly.
In the end, the resolution leaves it to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to decide how and when they will be deployed.
Although overall violence has fallen since the truce was agreed by the UN and Syria more than a week ago, many violations have been reported by activists and journalists on the ground.
Чехия: самые многолюдные демонстрации с 1989-го
В столице Чехии Праге состоялись массовые антиправительственные демонстрации, которые оппозиционеры называют самыми многолюдными в истории страны после падения коммунистического режима в 1989 году.
Чешские демонстранты утверждают, что в акциях протеста приняли участие 120 тыс. человек, однако власти оценивают количество протестующих в 90 тысяч.
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Также как в 1989-м, участники демонстрации трясли ключами, призывая правящую правоцентристскую коалицию запереть за собой двери и уйти в отставку.
Демонстранты, среди которых было немало студентов и пенсионеров, скандировали "Остановите воров!" и "Долой правительство!". Они прошли через центр Праги по Вацлавской площади – главной в чешской столице.
Оппозиция недовольна предложенными правительством жесткими мерами экономии и распространением коррупции.
France votes in first round of presidential poll.
Polls have opened in France's presidential election, taking place amid widespread disaffection caused by the eurozone crisis and unemployment.
Centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy is seeking re-election, saying only he can preserve a "strong France".
But he is facing a tough challenge from Socialist Francois Hollande, who has said it is "the left's turn to govern".
There are 10 candidates in all, and if none wins more than 50% of the votes there will be a run-off round on 6 May.
Polls in mainland France and Corsica will be open from 08:00 to 18:00 (06:00-16:00 GMT), with voting stations in big cities remaining open for another two hours.
The first official results will be released after the last stations close at 20:00 (18:00 GMT).
President Sarkozy, who has been in office since 2007, has promised to reduce France's large budget deficit and to tax people who leave the country for tax reasons.
He has also called for a "Buy European Act" for public contracts, and threatened to pull out of the Schengen passport-free zone unless other members do more to curb immigration from non-European countries.
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Mr Hollande, for his part, has promised to raise taxes on big corporations and people earning more than 1m euros a year.
He wants to raise the minimum wage, hire 60,000 more teachers and lower the retirement age from 62 to 60 for some workers.
If elected, Mr Hollande would be France's first left-wing president since Francois Mitterrand, who completed two seven-year terms between 1981 and 1995.
French presidents are now elected for five years.
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