Police officials stand outside 12200 Chessington Drive in southwest Houston, Texas.U.S. authorities have opened an investigation into a possible human smuggling operation, after police, responding to reports of kidnapping in Houston, said they had found more than 90 people jammed into a two-story house in the Texas city.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Bashar al-JaafariSyrian Deputy Foreign Minister Bashar al-Jaafari on Friday demanded the immediate end of the brutal political, economic and military interference in the internal affairs of his country and the unjust and illegal blockade.