Mleiha

• Syrian Soldiers Celebrate Fall of Rebel Stronghold

  In a house with a gutted facade, one Syrian soldier strums a guitar, another plays an accordion he found and six comrades join them to belt out a popular song.

• Syrian Army Takes Town Near Damascus in Blow to Rebels

  Syrian government forces backed by Lebanon's Hezbollah took control of a town just outside Damascus from Islamist fighters on Thursday, a blow to the rebels who had held it for more than a year.