Activists have raised the number of those reportedly killed by regime forces in a district of central Syria to more than 90.

Iran's envoy to the U.N.'s nuclear agency says traces of enriched uranium discovered at an underground bunker were due to a "routine technical issue."

Iran on Saturday downplayed as a "technical" issue a report by the UN atomic watchdog revealing that uranium traces of a higher grade than any found before had been detected.

The opposition Syrian National Council has urged the UN Security Council to act urgently after claiming that regime forces "massacred" scores of civilians, including many children, in the town of Houla.

The Muslim Brotherhood's candidate and a veteran of ousted leader Hosni Mubarak's autocratic regime will face each other in a runoff election for Egypt's president, according to first-round results Friday. The divisive showdown dismayed many Egyptians who fear either one means an end to any democratic gains produced by last year's uprising.

More than 70 people were killed across Syria on Friday, monitors said, as tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets and tanks were deployed in the country's second largest city.

Egyptians went to the polls earlier this week to elect a new president after longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year. With a majority of ballots counted, here is a look at a handful of notable, if not surprising, developments:

Inspectors have located radioactive traces at an Iranian underground bunker, the U.N. atomic agency said Friday a finding that could mean Iran has moved closer to reaching the uranium threshold needed to arm nuclear missiles.

President Bashar Assad's forces killed at least 50 civilians, including 13 children, in central Syria on Friday, activists said, in one of the highest death tolls in one specific area since an internationally-brokered cease-fire went into effect last month.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is callling on losing presidential candidates and political groups to take part in a dialogue aimed at "salvaging the nation" ahead of a tight presidential runoff between the group's candidate and a former regime official.

Preliminary results from Egypt's presidential election show Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi and former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq have won the top two spots and advanced to next month's runoff.

Analysts on Friday played down the UN atomic agency's discovery of higher-grade uranium traces in Iran, saying it was likely due to a technical glitch rather than a covert attempt to enrich to arms grade.

As the world's biggest emitter per capita of greenhouse gases, Qatar faces a test of credibility but also an opportunity when it hosts the UN forum on climate change in December, say veteran watchers of the process.

A group of Lebanese Shiite pilgrims kidnapped in Syria were freed on Friday and arrived in Turkey, Lebanese Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said.

Israeli archaeologists have discovered a rare trove of 3,000-year-old jewelry, including a ring and earrings, hidden in a ceramic jug near the ancient city of Megiddo, where the New Testament predicts the final battle of Armageddon.

International music icon Madonna arrived in Israel on Friday to kick off her hotly anticipated world tour with a sold-out performance in Tel Aviv.

A group of Lebanese Shiites who were kidnapped in Syria were released in good health Friday, three days after gunmen abducted the men as they returned from a religious pilgrimage, officials said.

The candidate of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood won a spot in a runoff election, likely against a veteran of ousted leader Hosni Mubarak's regime in what would be a deeply divisive battle to become the new president of Egypt, according to partial results Friday from the first round of voting.

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