Officials in Armenia say at least 144 people were injured Friday when gas-filled balloons exploded at an election campaign concert in the Armenian capital Yerevan.

Most of the people suffered burns when many promotional balloons burst into flames at a concert staged by the ruling Republican Party of Armenia in Yerevan's central Republic Square.

Health Minister Harutiun Kushkian told reporters no one's life is in danger.

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosions, but some reports say that it could have been caused by a cigarette lit too closely to the balloons.

The incident marred a largely calm election campaign.

President Serzh Sarkisyan promised a full investigation.

Tens of thousands have gathered in Yerevan ahead of the parliamentary election Sunday, which is largely seen as a test of democracy for President Sarkisyan, the winner of the disputed 2008 election.

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The election will be the first since a popular uprising ousted longtime autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak more than a year ago.

The military council that took over from Mr. Mubarak has promised a democratic transition and transfer of power to an elected president by July 1. But Egypt's generals have faced strong domestic criticism for their handling of that process, which has been plagued by periodic eruptions of deadly violence, often surrounding anti-government protests in major cities.

Islamists are angered by the ruling military's decision to bar ultraconservative Islamist cleric Hazem Abu Ismail from standing in the presidential contest. Egypt's election commission disqualified Abu Ismail because his mother had taken joint U.S. citizenship.

Britain's Defense Ministry says two British soldiers have been killed in a mortar attack on their base in southern Afghanistan.

The unidentified soldiers were killed Friday while serving with the Royal Logistic Corps in the northern part of Nahr-e-Saraj district in Helmand province.

The deaths brings to 412 the number of British forces who have been killed while serving in Afghanistan since the start of the war in October 2001.

Adam Yauch, a founding member of the pioneering Beastie Boys hip hop group, died Friday at the age of 47 of cancer.

Yauch, who also was known as MCA, helped start the group in 1979 when it was a hardcore punk bank. But as its music evolved, the Beastie Boys produced some of hip-hop's celebrated albums, including Licensed to Ill, Paul's Boutique, Check Your Head and Ill Communication. Yauch was a vocalist and bass player.

The group has not performed live since 2009, but was inducted last month into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Beastie Boys said Yauch died from a cancerous tumor in his saliva gland that was first discovered in 2009.

France holds its presidential runoff election Sunday, with Socialist challenger Francois Hollande expected to defeat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.

The latest opinion polls show President Sarkozy narrowing the gap behind his Socialist rival, but Hollande is still expected to emerge victorious.

In office five years, President Sarkozy has faced criticism for his handling of the economy, as well as his brash style.

“Sarkozy promised what he called 'a rupture' – a break with the past, a liberalization of the French market place. And he has made some incremental steps to tax reform and to try to liberalize the labor market, and he has raised the retirement age – but French growth is really stuck in neutral. And the second thing is that Sarkozy seems to have lost his political touch. Many, many French voters see him as insufficiently 'presidential' – he is down in the trenches. They see him as hyperactive and unable to stick to a steady course.”

Hollande is a veteran politician who headed the Socialist Party for several years, but he has never held a top government post. Friday marked his and Mr. Sarkozy's final day of campaigning.

“Don't imagine that your problems will dissipate, evaporate suddenly with the outgoing candidate. No, we will have to work together. I can't disappoint you, that's why I have promised nothing in this campaign that I am not able to live up to. You will not be disappointed, you will not be forgotten. You will be defended, you will be respected because what constitutes our strength, yours and mine, is that you will respect your next president and the next head of state will respect each and everyone one of you for whatever you are, citizens of the Republic. Together on the sixth of May, long live the Republic, long live France.”

The Socialist candidate's presidential bid received a boost Thursday, when former candidate, centrist Francois Bayrou, said he would vote for him. Bayrou won 9 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidential elections last month.

President Sarkozy downplayed Bayrou's announcement at a campaign rally Friday.

“Each one of us, each one of us has the decision in our hands. Those who don't vote will let others decide for them. Those who vote, will decide with their spirit and conscience, but they should not let others decide for them.”

Meanwhile, far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who finished third in the first round of balloting last month, said she will not support either candidate in the runoff.

In a televised debate Wednesday, Hollande and Mr. Sarkozy accused each other of lying during exchanges on economic policies. In campaigning, Hollande has blamed the president for France's unemployment rate of nearly 10 percent and called for sweeping changes to improve the nation's public finances.

Nigerian officials are blaming the radical Boko Haram Islamist group for a deadly jailbreak in the country's northeast.

Authorities in Borno state say gunmen stormed the prison and killed two guards early Friday, allowing an unknown number of prisoners to escape. Police spokesman Samuel Tizhe said 23 prisoners have since been recaptured.

Boko Haram radicals have been blamed for dozens of increasingly violent attacks across the northern part of the country.

Some Nigerians suspect the group might also have been involved in a brutal cattle raid earlier this week that left 34 people dead.

The attack on a cattle market in the northern city of Potiskum also injured more than 20 people. Scores of livestock were killed, stolen or maimed.

Witnesses say the attack followed an earlier incident where the gang sought to rob traders at the market. One of the robbers was caught while trying to escape and burned to death.

The gunmen returned later that night shooting indiscriminately at the market and throwing explosives.

Adam Yauch, a founding member of the pioneering Beastie Boys hip hop group, died Friday at the age of 47.

Yauch, who also was known as MCA, helped start the group in 1979 when it was a hardcore punk bank. But as its music evolved, the Beastie Boys produced some of hip-hop's celebrated albums, including Licensed to Ill, Paul's Boutique, Check Your Head and Ill Communication. Yauch was a vocalist and bass player.

The group has not performed live since 2009, but was inducted last month into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The cause of Yauch's death was not immediately known. But he had been in treatment for cancer since 2009 when a tumor was discovered in his salivary gland.

A prominent human rights group is demanding Kenya hold its security forces to account for rampant abuses against refugees.

Human Rights Watch accused Kenyan forces of targeting ethnic Somalis and Kenyans in Kenya's North Eastern province during a six-month period starting last November. The group's report, issued Friday, said the abuses were part of a campaign of retaliation for a series of attacks on Kenyan soldiers by Islamist al-Shabaab militants and their supporters.

The 65-page report said the abuses included rape, attempted sexual assaults, arbitrary detentions, extortion, looting and beatings. It says the most serious allegations come from the Dadaab refugee camps, which house more the 460,000 refugees.

The report says in some cases, Kenyan security forces beat children as young as 4.

Human Rights Watch says the Kenyan government has promised to investigate the alleged abuses but that, so far, no one has been held accountable.

The Associated Press said Friday the Kenyan Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere promised to investigate the allegations.

Kenyan troops entered Somalia as part of the African Union Mission in Somalia's effort to help prop up the country's weak transitional government, which is battling al-Shabab. HRW says the alleged Kenyan police abuses against Somalis has created an atmosphere of mistrust around their mission in Somalia.

Greeks head to the polls Sunday in the first general election since the start of the country's debt crisis — a highly-uncertain vote that could bring new political instability.

Angered by economic difficulties, voters are expected to punish the country's two main parties: the socialist PASOK party and the conservative New Democracy party. Many Greeks blame the parties for leading the nation into its current bind through mismanagement.

In just two years, Greece has received two huge international bailouts to keep from defaulting on its financial obligations. But in order to secure the aid from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, the government had to bow to demands to impose sharp spending cuts and tax increases, which have generated widespread protests.

The two main parties are expected to lose votes Sunday to a field of smaller parties opposed to the austerity measures.

“Elections must take place but I'm very disappointed, and I can't decide on anyone. I'm still undecided. I would have liked not to vote at all because I usually abstain, but I feel that I'm obliged to do so in this case, because if I don't vote in this one, it means that I don't have any opinion at all. So I will force myself to vote. The only thing I know for sure is that I will not vote for either of the large parties.''

“I think that showing the government that the majority of people is not going to vote means something. I believe it is much bigger than going to vote for the small parties.”

If, as expected, no party wins enough votes to form a government, building a new coalition could prove difficult and create even more problems for the nation's financial standing and its latest bailout. Many Greeks want the terms of the bailout to be renegotiated.

Other available soundbites:

“I'm waiting to see a more liberal policy with more financing and more liquidity in the economy which is missing today, and another level of cooperation with the European Union.''

“They were telling us that in 2012 we could go out on the markets again. I was alone back then when I was talking about growth, both here and abroad, but my fears have been vindicated. The debt was uncontrollable and it needed a haircut. Now, of course, everybody speaks about growth, both in Greece and abroad.”

“I am afraid we made a lot of mistakes. Nevertheless, I believe that we can overcome it. I know that we are just starting to learn from our mistakes. And I do know that we do have the force and the power to be stronger, wiser.”