Troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al Assad are advancing on rebels in the central city of Homs, the United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said May 2, AP reported.

Kenneth Bae, an American detained for nearly six months in North Korea, has been sentenced to 15 years of "compulsory labor" for unspecified crimes against the state, Pyongyang announced May 1, AP reported.

Three men arrested in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing have been charged for conspiring to obstruct justice and for making false statements, the U.S. Attorney's Office reported May 1.

Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators gathered in central Istanbul on May Day, Reuters reported May 1.

Two of the three suspects arrested in the Boston Marathon bombing investigation are two Kazakh nationals who appeared in immigration court the morning of May 1, The Boston Globe reported.

At least 460 people were killed in violence in Iraq in April, according to figures based on reports from security and medical sources, AFP reported May 1.

Two of the three people taken into custody May 1 in the Boston Marathon bombing case were classmates of suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Reuters reported May 1, citing a law enforcement source.

An Iranian workers' union urged Tehran to increase salaries and battle inflation May 1, AFP reported, citing a report from the Iranian Labor News Agency.

Three additional suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing have been taken into custody, according to a Twitter message from the Boston Police Department.

Thousands of demonstrators gathered across Europe on May Day to protest austerity measures, Reuters reported May 1.