Syrian Uprising, Syrian Rebels | featured news

Rebels took control of the city of Dael in southern Syria on Friday, according to activists and rebel fighters, a notable victory for the opposition in a conflict that has left at least 70,000 Syrians dead.

A Syrian opposition leader said Tuesday that he had asked the United States to defend rebel-held areas with Patriot missiles. NATO already has Patriot surface-to-air missile batteries in NATO-member Turkey to help defend the country from potential airstrikes by President Bashar Assad's regime.

The United States said on Thursday that it would provide an additional $60 million in non-lethal assistance to help the Syrian opposition provide basic services in areas they control.

In a policy shift, the United States is planning to channel aid directly to selected groups of the Syrian opposition, senior White House officials told NBC News.

The US defence secretary says for the first time that he supports arming Syrian rebels, a proposal reportedly over-ruled by President Barack Obama.

The UK has not excluded providing military assistance to the Syrian opposition, should the conflict worsen, William Hague has said.

Dozens of people were killed and many more wounded in an air strike that hit a Syrian bakery where a large crowd was queuing for bread on Sunday, activists said.

With rebels trying to penetrate Syria's capital, Damascus, President Bashar Assad may appear to be heading for a last stand as his weakened regime crumbles around him....

President Barack Obama declared Syria's main opposition group the sole "legitimate representative" of its country's people Tuesday, deeming the move "a big step" in the international diplomatic efforts to end Syrian President Bashar Assad's embattled regime.

U.S. and allied intelligence have detected Syrian movement of chemical weapons components in recent days, a senior U.S. defense official said Monday, as the Obama administration again warned the Assad regime against using chemical weapons on Syrian rebels.