Screen idol Angelina Jolie Friday met thousands of Syrians sheltered in camps in Turkey as other refugees began a hunger strike against curbs imposed by Turkish authorities.

The refugees in the Yayladagi camp began the protest after Friday prayers, hours before Jolie's visit as ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees at another camp, a source from a Syrian rights group said.

Syrian security forces killed at least 12 people when they opened fire on protesters on Friday, rights activists said, as France urged tougher EU sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

The protests after the main weekly Muslim prayers came as the army pressed its campaign against northern towns and the number of refugees fleeing across the border into Turkey neared 10,000.

Libyan rebel chief Mahmoud Jibril denied Friday suggestions by a Russian envoy that the insurgents had been negotiating with Moammer Gadhafi's regime.

"I can assure you there is and there was no negotiation between the NTC and the regime," the head of the rebel National Transitional Council told a press conference in Naples.

Top Bollywood actor Imran Khan said Friday he would challenge in court a decision to raise the age for buying alcohol in India's entertainment capital, slamming the new law as double standards.

Khan, who is teetotal, said he planned to file a case in the Bombay High Court against the state government of Maharashtra, which earlier this month upped the minimum age for buying beer from 18 to 21 and spirits from 21 to 25.

The Indian state of Gujarat has invited global tenders to help build the world's tallest statue -- a 182-meter memorial to an independence hero that will cost $300 million.

The towering 597-feet figure, which would reach almost halfway up New York's Empire State Building, will bear the likeness of Vallabhbhai Patel, the freedom fighter who guided India's integration into a united, independent nation.

Organizers of India's first "Slut Walk" have changed the name of the event and toned down its dress code because of concern the protest is too provocative, reports said Friday.

"Slut Walks," which have become a global phenomenon to protest sexual violence, see women dress in skimpy clothing to challenge the mindset that victims of sexual assault should be blamed for the crime against them.

Porn mogul Larry Flynt offered disgraced U.S. lawmaker Anthony Weiner a job Thursday, after the New York congressman resigned over a tawdry "sexting" scandal.

Hustler founder Flynt said he would pay Weiner, who posted pictures of his intimate anatomy to a number of women on Twitter, 20 percent more than what he earned in the House of Representatives.

Alex McLeish vowed to win over Aston Villa's supporters on Friday after being confirmed as the Premier League club's new manager following days of angry protests by fans.

Villa confirmed in a statement they had appointed McLeish with immediate effect just five days after the 52-year-old Scot resigned from bitter local rivals Birmingham City, who were relegated last month.

Microsoft on Thursday began letting software developers imbue computers with voice and motion-sensing technology from its Kinect controller for the Xbox 360 videogame console.

A free Kinect for Windows Software Development Kit opens doors for computer programs enhanced with depth-perception, voice recognition, or gesture controls using the popular console accessory.

Around 100 people have occupied a historic Italian theater where Luigi Pirandello's "Six Characters in Search of an Author" was first performed to protest plans to convert the landmark into a restaurant.

The Valle, which opened in the 18th century and was the site of Pirandello's famous opening in 1921, is Rome's oldest active theatre.