Lionel Messi became the first player in almost 40 years to score 60 goals in a single European top-flight season after a brace helped Barcelona come from behind to beat 10-man Zaragoza 4-1 on Saturday.

Messi's 23 goals from the last 12 games has helped him arrive at the landmark 60 figure, the first time since Gerd Muller scored 67 goals in the 1972-73 season for Bayern Munich.

Afghanistan and the U.S. have struck a deal on special forces operations in the insurgency-wracked country, Kabul said Sunday, with night raids -- a controversial issue -- to be led by Afghans.

Kabul's foreign ministry invited journalists to a signing ceremony for the agreement later Sunday, and President Hamid Karzai's spokesman Aimal Faizi told AFP: "After the signing of this document all night raids become Afghan-led."

Syria said Sunday it will not withdraw its forces from protest hubs without "written guarantees" that the opposition will also lay down its arms, a demand swiftly rejected by rebels, who said they will not give guarantees to a regime they do not recognize.

"To say that Syria will pull back its forces from towns on April 10 is inaccurate, with (U.N.-Arab League envoy) Kofi Annan having not yet presented written guarantees on the acceptance by armed terrorist groups of a halt to all violence," the Syrian foreign minister said in a statement.

A car bombing near a church in northern Nigeria as services were being held on Easter Sunday killed at least 20 people, wounded 30 others and put the country on alert over fears of further attacks.

The explosion, a stark reminder of Christmas Day attacks that left dozens of people dead in Africa's most populous nation and largest oil producer, hit the city of Kaduna, a major cultural and economic center in the north.

Libyan leaders in Misrata could be held legally accountable by the International Criminal Court for crimes committed by militias under their command, Human Rights Watch warned on Sunday.

"The leaders of the Libyan city of Misrata could be held criminally responsible for ongoing serious crimes by forces under their command," the watchdog said in an open letter to the city’s military and civilian leaders.

Turkey's prime minister has warned of as yet unspecified "steps" if the government of neighboring Syria fails to abide by an April 10 deadline to cease violence, local media reported on Sunday.

"We will patiently follow the process until April 10," Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying by daily Hurriyet.

Two days ahead of a U.N. deadline for Syria's military to halt fire, neither regime forces nor the rebels appeared ready on Sunday to compromise after a deadly day that saw nearly 130 people killed.

The main opposition umbrella group the Syrian National Council called for U.N. intervention after monitoring groups said 86 of those killed on Saturday were civilians.

A stealth surveillance drone operated by the CIA penetrated deep inside Iran over three years ago, snapped images of Iran's secret nuclear facility at Qom and returned home, The Washington Post reported late Saturday.

The newspaper said that during that flight, analysts at the Central Intelligence Agency and other agencies watched carefully for any sign that the aircraft, called the RQ-170 Sentinel, had been detected by Tehran's air defenses on its maiden voyage.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged late Saturday quick implementation of a West African accord requiring a military junta in Mali to step down and hand over power to lawful authorities.

The junior officers who seized power in Mali last month have agreed with West African bloc ECOWAS to give up power in return for an amnesty deal and a lifting of sanctions that the regional body had imposed on landlocked Mali.

The United States on Saturday praised Yemen's president for steps taken as part of the ongoing political transition even as the capital's airport was temporarily shut down and tensions ran high in Sanaa.

"The United States welcomes President Abd Rabo Mansour Hadi's announcement of civilian and military personnel transfers as part of the ongoing political transition in Yemen," State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner said.