Main news of January 7

A roundup of what has happened during the last 24 hours

World

A visit to Libya by Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on genocide charges, has been criticized by a leading rights group

Thousands of people attended a government-organized funeral in the Syrian capital of Damascus for the victims of a bomb attack

Iran hailed the actions of the U.S. navy after an American warship freed 13 Iranians who had been held by pirates

Russia

The head of Russia’s powerful Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, told the country’s leaders to listen to and act on the demands voiced at recent mass protests over alleged vote rigging