Salim Idriss, the former Syrian army general who now heads the rebel Free Syrian Army's military command, is a key interlocutor for the West and could be the conduit for future US military aid. In the West, Idriss is seen as a moderate voice, a counterbalance to some of the more unsavoury radicals fighting within the opposition's ranks. When US Republican Senator John McCain slipped into Syria briefly last month, he met with Idriss, and has since praised the 55-year-old as a figure the United States can work with.

Miami, May 22 (EFE).- Mexican actress and singer Fernanda Romero is out to conquer two markets at once. Romero, who has just finished starring in the acclaimed movie "El Fantastico Mundo de Juan Orol" (The Fantastic World of Juan Orol) by Sebastian del Amo, has several projects to premiere in Spanish and English, testing whether it's possible to do two crossovers at once. Romero is currently appearing in "Chamacas," a comedy show on the Hispanic online entertainment channel Nuevon, which is broadcast on YouTube and is the property of actress Sofia Vergara.

An American scientist found hanged in Singapore last year was murdered and his death made to look like a suicide as part of a conspiracy, a US pathologist told an inquiry Tuesday. Edward Adelstein, 75, a deputy medical examiner in Missouri, contradicted Singapore police findings that Shane Todd killed himself, but admitted his conclusions were based on pictures of the body and second-hand information.

Spain's government Friday approved an emergency reform of the crisis-hit education sector, hoping to reduce the number of school dropouts and curb the soaring youth unemployment rate. Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said the plan aimed to improve young people's job prospects at a time when unemployment among those aged 16 to 24 has surpassed 57 percent, and 25 percent of Spaniards drop out of school early.