1. TOP SYRIAN GENERAL DEFECTS
According to a Western official, Syrian Brig. Gen. Manaf Tlass has defected from the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Tlass was a member of Assad's inner circle; the son of a former defense minister and part of the elite Republican Guards, he is one of the highest-ranking people to abandon the regime. His defection comes as a group of officials from some 100 countries known as the "Friends of Syria" alliance meet in Paris in support of the Syrian opposition. The U.S. and many of its Arab and Western allies are in attendance, but Russia and China are not. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called upon all attendees to pressure Moscow and Beijing to join them in support of the Syrian people. "[Russia and China] are holding up progress, blockading it," she said. "That is no longer tolerable." [Associated Press, New York Times]
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2. JUDGE: ZIMMERMAN WAS PLANNING TO FLEE
Judge Kenneth R. Lester Jr. ordered a $1 million bond for George Zimmerman on Thursday, noting that Trayvon Martin's shooter had a second, undisclosed passport in a safe deposit box, and appeared to have been planning to flee the country. Zimmerman is facing second-degree murder charges in the February shooting death of Martin. His original bail of $150,000 was revoked in June after it was revealed that he and his wife had misrepresented their finances. Now, Zimmerman will not only have to post 10 percent of $1 million — $100,000 — he will have to put up $1 million in collateral, something his attorney says Zimmerman does not have. Judge Lester says the new, higher bond is not meant to punish Zimmerman but merely to prevent him from fleeing. [CNN]
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3. ARGENTINA: EX-DICTATORS GUILTY OF BABY THEFT
An Argentine court has ruled that former dictators Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone are guilty of running a systematic program during the late '70s and early '80s to steal babies from imprisoned leftist activists who were tortured and killed during the military junta's "dirty war" against dissidents. While the trial focused on 34 baby thefts, a human rights groups says some 500 babies could have been stolen in total, though missing documents make it difficult to determine an exact number. Videla and Bignone were sentenced to 50 and 15 years, respectively; both are in their 80s and are already imprisoned for other human rights abuses. [Associated Press]
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4. U.S. ADDS JUST 80,000 JOBS IN JUNE
The U.S added a meager 80,000 jobs in June, the Labor Department reported Friday. Economists had projected a 100,000-job increase. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, was unchanged at 8.2 percent. [MarketWatch]
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5. WIKILEAKS TO RELEASE 2.4 MILLION SYRIAN EMAILS
WikiLeaks has begun to publish 2.4 million Syrian emails that it claims are from the accounts of government officials. The group's founder, Julian Assange, says "the material is embarrassing to Syria, but it is also embarrassing to Syria's external opponents." [Associated Press]
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6. ROMNEY RAISES $100 MILLION IN JUNE
A Republican National Committee official reports that Mitt Romney's campaign and its affiliates hauled in $100 million in June. That's easily Romney's best fundraising month for the 2012 campaign, handily topping the previous high of $77 million in May. The Obama campaign has yet to release figures for June. [Washington Post]
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7. SERENA ADVANCES TO WIMBLEDON FINAL
Serena Williams hit 24 aces on Thursday — a tournament record — to beat Victoria Azarenka and advance to the Wimbledon finals, where she'll face off against Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska. It will be the seventh Wimbledon final for the tennis great, who hasn't won a Grand Slam title in two years and has been plagued by a series of health problems. Five weeks ago, she lost in the first round of the French Open; it was her first ever first-round defeat in a Grand Slam tournament. [Associated Press]
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8. LIBYA READIES FOR HISTORIC ELECTIONS
After more than 40 years under Moammar Gadhafi, Libya will hold its first multiparty election in six decades on Saturday. Some 2.8 million Libyans are eligible to vote in the parliamentary elections, which will elect a new 200-seat legislature to form a transitional government. The Muslim Brotherhood's Justice and Construction party is expected to take a number of seats, as are the secular Alliance of National Forces party, rebel commander Abdel-Hakim Belhaj's Al-Watan, and the National Front, one of the country's oldest political parties, which reportedly attempted to assassinate Gadhafi several times. [Associated Press]
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9. SAVAGES MAY BE A RETURN TO FORM FOR STONE
Some, but not all, are praising Oliver Stone's new film, Savages, out Friday. In The Hollywood Reporter, Todd McCarthy calls it "at least a partial resurrection of the director's more hallucinatory, violent, sexual, and, in a word, savage side" after uncharacteristically conventional recent films like Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. [Hollywood Reporter]
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10. SETH MEYERS IN THE LEAD TO REPLACE REGIS
The Saturday Night Live veteran is said to be the lead contender to replace Regis Philbin on Live! Singer Josh Groban is also in the running to be Kelly Ripa's co-host. [Chicago Sun-Times]
