Cease-fire, Civil War | featured news

Protests emerged onto the streets across Syria on Friday as a temporary cease-fire marking the most important Muslim holiday of the year largely held at the start of its first day.

Lakhdar Brahimi’s plan calls for guns to be silent on the main Muslim holiday of the year, but numerous do-it-yourself aspects of the plan immediately called into question whether it would quiet any fighting.

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa said on Thursday his government had no intention of a ceasefire with Tamil Tiger rebels, telling international critics the military's actions constituted a "humanitarian operation."

Encircled by the Sri Lankan military, Tamil Tiger rebels declared a “unilateral cease-fire,” an offer that the government rejected immediately.

The US calls for an immediate ceasefire to the fighting in north-east Sri Lanka to allow civilians to leave the war zone.