Two U.S.-based Internet-monitoring companies say Syria has shut off the Internet nationwide.

Activists in Syria reached Thursday by satellite telephone confirmed the unprecedented blackout, which comes amid intense fighting in the capital, Damascus.

Egypt's foreign minister says the political unrest roiling his country after President Mohammed Morsi seized more power should not affect Egypt's negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a $4.8 billion loan.

Mohammed Kamel Amr told reporters in Berlin after meetings Thursday with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle that Morsi's move last week to grant himself near-autocratic powers — at least until a new constitution is adopted and parliamentary elections are held — was a domestic issue.

Spanish poet and essayist Jose Manuel Caballero Bonald has won the 2012 Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's highest literary honor.

Education Minister Jose Ignacio Wert said Thursday the 86-year-old was chosen for the contribution his life-long work has made to enriching Spanish-language literature.

European Union foreign ministers say they have agreed to open free trade negotiations with Japan.

Cyprus' commerce minister Neoklis Sylikiotis, whose country holds the bloc's rotating chairmanship, says Thursday talks could start in the next few months. They are likely to last about three years.

Luiz Felipe Scolari is back in charge of Brazil's national football team, 10 years after leading the team to the 2002 World Cup title.

The Brazilian football federation said Thursday that Scolari has been hired to lead the team through the 2014 World Cup at home. He replaces Mano Menezes, who was fired last week because the federation didn't like his methods.

Hardened by coach Diego Simeone and fueled by striker Radamel Falcao, Atletico Madrid appears poised to finally break Real Madrid's dominance of the Spanish-capital derby with a long-awaited victory its fans have been coveting for 13 years.

Atletico enters Saturday's game at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in second place and a commanding eight points ahead of its crosstown rival after its best start in club history with 11 wins, a draw and one defeat.

Borussia Dortmund will need to stop the seemingly unstoppable at Bayern Munich on Saturday to retain any realistic hopes of successfully defending its Bundesliga title.

Dortmund is already 11 points behind the league leader, which has won 12 games from 14 and lost just once, becoming the fastest side in 50 years of the Bundesliga to claim the unofficial title of "autumn champion."

In the middle of the night, as most of New York slept, something big and bright lit up the Manhattan skyline for just seconds — a tightly kept secret to all but a handful of people.

It was a tiny test for the huge public surprise four days later: the flipping of a switch at the Empire State Building to turn on its dancing new LED lights. They burst from the skyscraper while synchronized with R&B star Alicia Keys singing "Empire State of Mind" on nationwide radio.

Lindsay Lohan has left a New York City police precinct after being charged for allegedly striking a woman at a nightclub.

The actress left the station house shortly before 8 a.m. Thursday. She wore a black jacket over her head that went down to her knees. She was wearing leggings, a mini skirt and high-heels, and drove off in a black SUV with a driver and another man.

Inter Milan President Massimo Moratti denies the club is blackmailing Wesley Sneijder into signing a new contract, saying the Netherlands midfielder is not playing purely for footballing reasons.

Club director Marco Branca said over the weekend that Sneijder wouldn't play again for Inter until he made a decision about his future, and a new deal which requires him to take a pay cut.