Rebel Uprising

Powerful Syrian rebel chief Zahran Alloush was killed in a regime air strike east of Damascus on Friday, dealing blows to both the nearly five-year uprising and a fragile peace process.

At least six Ukrainian servicemen were killed in separatist attacks on Sunday in Ukraine's troubled eastern regions in a grim weekend marking the first anniversary of a rebellion against Kiev's pro-Western rulers.

An uneasy calm returned to the streets of Donetsk on Wednesday after the biggest battle of the pro-Russian separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine, a conflict transformed by the landslide election of a pro-European leader who vowed to crush the revolt.

Acting Ukrainian President Oleksander Turchinov told eastern regions gripped by a pro-Russian uprising that they would be courting catastrophe if they voted "yes" in a separatist referendum on Sunday.

Hundreds of Syrian rebels on Wednesday abandoned their last stronghold in the heart of Homs city, an epicentre of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, handing him a symbolic victory weeks before his likely re-election.

Syrian rebels said on Monday they had fired mortar bombs at the presidential palace, the Damascus International Airport and security buildings to mark the second anniversary of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

On a cold winter's night in early 2011, some Syrian schoolboys drew a few slogans on a wall in a town the world had barely heard of. Two years on, more than 70,000 people have died in the bitter conflict that ensued, and calls for the West to give more help to the Syrian rebels are rising.

Syria's air force launched new air strikes on Friday on rebel bastions near Damascus, as clashes raged in flashpoints across the country two years after the anti-regime uprising began, a watchdog said.

Syrian opposition fighters captured the country's largest dam on Monday after days of intense clashes, dealing a major blow on the battlefield to President Bashar Assad's troops nearly two years after the uprising against his rule erupted.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will deliver a rare speech on Sunday about the uprising against his rule, which has killed 60,000 people and brought civil war to the edge of his capital.

More than 60,000 people have died in the Syrian uprising and civil war, the United Nations said on Wednesday, dramatically raising the death toll in a struggle that shows no sign of ending.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) again rejected on Wednesday attempts by Libya to delay handing over one of former Dictator Moammar Gaddafi's sons, who is wanted for trial. Judges unanimously dismissed Libya's latest appeal against the court's order to surrender Seif al-Islam Gaddafi for trial on charges of murdering and persecuting civilian...

Troops loyal to Mr Assad have pummeled rebel strongholds across Syria this week, deploying tanks and heavy artillery to crush opponents in a string of cities and villages, including Deraa in the far south where the rebellion took hold last March.

In dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, Syrian troops have stormed rebellious areas near the capital, shelling neighborhoods that have fallen under the control of army dissidents and clashing with fighters. At least 62 people were killed in violence nationwide, activists and residents said.

The son and heir apparent of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, Seif al-Islam, resurfaced free and defiant early on Tuesday, a day after rebels claimed to have captured him, boasting in a bizarre reappearance that his father's loyalists still control parts of Tripoli and would crush the rebellion.

Powerful Syrian rebel chief Zahran Alloush was killed in a regime air strike east of Damascus on Friday, dealing blows to both the nearly five-year uprising and a fragile peace process.

At least six Ukrainian servicemen were killed in separatist attacks on Sunday in Ukraine's troubled eastern regions in a grim weekend marking the first anniversary of a rebellion against Kiev's pro-Western rulers.

An uneasy calm returned to the streets of Donetsk on Wednesday after the biggest battle of the pro-Russian separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine, a conflict transformed by the landslide election of a pro-European leader who vowed to crush the revolt.

Acting Ukrainian President Oleksander Turchinov told eastern regions gripped by a pro-Russian uprising that they would be courting catastrophe if they voted "yes" in a separatist referendum on Sunday.

Hundreds of Syrian rebels on Wednesday abandoned their last stronghold in the heart of Homs city, an epicentre of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, handing him a symbolic victory weeks before his likely re-election.

Syrian rebels said on Monday they had fired mortar bombs at the presidential palace, the Damascus International Airport and security buildings to mark the second anniversary of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

On a cold winter's night in early 2011, some Syrian schoolboys drew a few slogans on a wall in a town the world had barely heard of. Two years on, more than 70,000 people have died in the bitter conflict that ensued, and calls for the West to give more help to the Syrian rebels are rising.

Syria's air force launched new air strikes on Friday on rebel bastions near Damascus, as clashes raged in flashpoints across the country two years after the anti-regime uprising began, a watchdog said.

Syrian opposition fighters captured the country's largest dam on Monday after days of intense clashes, dealing a major blow on the battlefield to President Bashar Assad's troops nearly two years after the uprising against his rule erupted.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will deliver a rare speech on Sunday about the uprising against his rule, which has killed 60,000 people and brought civil war to the edge of his capital.

More than 60,000 people have died in the Syrian uprising and civil war, the United Nations said on Wednesday, dramatically raising the death toll in a struggle that shows no sign of ending.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) again rejected on Wednesday attempts by Libya to delay handing over one of former Dictator Moammar Gaddafi's sons, who is wanted for trial. Judges unanimously dismissed Libya's latest appeal against the court's order to surrender Seif al-Islam Gaddafi for trial on charges of murdering and persecuting civilian...

Troops loyal to Mr Assad have pummeled rebel strongholds across Syria this week, deploying tanks and heavy artillery to crush opponents in a string of cities and villages, including Deraa in the far south where the rebellion took hold last March.

In dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, Syrian troops have stormed rebellious areas near the capital, shelling neighborhoods that have fallen under the control of army dissidents and clashing with fighters. At least 62 people were killed in violence nationwide, activists and residents said.

The son and heir apparent of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, Seif al-Islam, resurfaced free and defiant early on Tuesday, a day after rebels claimed to have captured him, boasting in a bizarre reappearance that his father's loyalists still control parts of Tripoli and would crush the rebellion.