Syria, North Korea top G8 meeting in London

Western and Middle Eastern nations trying to help the Syrian opposition in its war against President Bashar al-Assad will meet in Turkey on April 20, a US official said on Wednesday as G8 foreign ministers gathered in London for a summit.

Top rebel leader wounded in Syria

A rebel military leader who was among the first to call openly for armed insurrection against President Bashar Assad was wounded by a bomb planted in his car in eastern Syria, anti-regime activists said Monday.

Syria conflict enters 3rd year, EU mulls arming rebels

Syria's devastating conflict entered its third year on Friday with EU leaders frustrated over the failure of diplomacy to end the bloodshed pressing to arm rebels despite Russia's objections. The Syrian Revolution 2011 Facebook page, a key driving force behind the uprising, has called on people to take to the streets after the main weekly Muslim prayers under the rallying cry "Two years of sacrifice towards victory".

Hollande to talk Syria settlement with Putin

French President Francois Hollande says he hopes to discuss political transition in war-torn Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, whose stance on Syria is crucial to peace settlement.

Damascus car bomb kills 35, 18 die in airstrike

A car bomb near the Damascus headquarters of Syria's ruling party killed 35 people on Thursday, while a government airstrike on a rebel field hospital in southern Daraa left 18 dead, opposition activists and state media reported.

Israel strike on Syria 'unacceptable': Russia

Russia warned on Thursday that any air strike against its ally Syria would be "unacceptable", as Israel maintained a strict silence on claims that it had bombed Syrian targets.

Donors pledge $1 billion as Ban says Syria 'catastrophic'

International donors at a Kuwait conference Wednesday pledged almost $1 billion in aid for stricken Syrians, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned of a "catastrophic" situation in their war-torn country.

Calls for Syria action as Arab world on Davos centre stage

Global political and business leaders heard calls for urgent action over Syria's escalating civil war on Friday as the Arab world took centre stage at the Davos forum.

Twin suicide blasts hit south of Damascus

Syrian state TV says rebels linked to al-Qaida group detonated cars filled with explosives near a mosque in southern Syria, causing many casualties.

Syria universities shut, Aleppo blast toll at 87

Universities were closed across Syria on Wednesday to mark a day of mourning called after twin blasts tore through an Aleppo campus while students were writing exams, killing at least 87 people.

UN says it can't feed 1 million hungry Syrians

The World Food Program said Today it is unable to help 1 million Syrians who are going hungry. This month, the agency aims to help 1.5 million of the 2.5 million Syrians that the Syrian Arab Red Crescent says need it, spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said.

Stop war in Syria before it becomes "field of ruins": Pope

Pope Benedict urged the world on Monday to end what he called the endless slaughter in Syria before the entire country becomes a "a field of ruins".

20, including 8 children, killed in Syria shelling

At least 20 people, including eight children, were killed as Syrian army tanks blasted a village in the northern province of Kahtaniyeh on Wednesday, a monitoring group said.

Syrian vice president says neither side can win war

Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa said that neither the forces of President Bashar al-Assad nor rebels seeking to overthrow him can win the war which is now being fought on the outskirts of Assad's powerbase in Damascus.

Thousands flee Syria in exodus, millions more need aid

Thousands of Syrians fled their country on Friday in one of the biggest refugee exoduses of the 20-month civil war after rebels seized a border town, and the United Nations warned that millions more still in Syria will need help as winter sets in.

Fighting rages in Syria before proposed truce

Syrian troops bombarded a town near Damascus on Thursday and fighting raged in and around the northern city of Aleppo, a day before a proposed truce for a four-day Muslim religious holiday. President Bashar al-Assad's government was expected to make a statement later in the day on whether it accepts the temporary ceasefire advocated by UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

Iraqi Shia militants fight for Syria's Assad

Scores of Iraqi Shia militants are fighting in Syria, often alongside President Bashar al-Assad's troops, and pledging loyalty to Iran's supreme Shia religious leader, according to militia fighters and politicians in Iraq. Iraqi Shia militia involvement in Syria's conflict exposes how rapidly the crisis has spiraled into a proxy war between Assad's main ally Shia Iran and the Sunni Arab Gulf states supporting mostly Sunni rebels fighting the president.

40 dead as bombs tear through heart of Syria's Aleppo

Three car bombs tore into the heart of Aleppo today, killing at least 40 people and wounding 90, mostly soldiers, a watchdog said, as television broadcast scenes of devastation in Syria's commercial capital. In parts of the capital, meanwhile,

Syria has moved some chemical weapons to boost security: US

The Syrian regime has moved some chemical weapons to safeguard the material as it wages war against rebel forces but the main storage sites for its arsenal remain secure, US defense secretary Leon Panetta said on Friday.

More than 30,000 killed in 18-month Syria revolt: NGO

More than 30,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in violence since the outbreak of a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad in March last year, a monitoring group said on Wednesday.