Top news: Chinese leaders opened a pivotal party congress in Beijing as they prepared to hand over power to Vice President Xi Jinping. In a nearly 100-minute farewell address, outgoing president Hu Jintao touched on many of the challenges facing China, including environmental degradation and corruption, but strongly downplayed talk of reform and warned the Party  “resolutely not follow Western political systems.” Hu will likely retain significant power even after Xi takes power next week. 

Protests against Chinese rule in Tibet have intensified this week with 5 people self-immolating  on Wednesday and Thursday, including three teenage monks. Dozens of Tibetans have self-immolated since March, 2011. A woman was also arrested in Tiananmen Square for throwing papers in the air and shouting "bandits and robbers" at the conference venue. 

Syria: Turkey says 8,000 refugees have fled Syria in the last 24 hours. President Bashar al-Assad warned against an international invasion of Syria in an interview with RT.