Activist preacher Moaz al-Khatib is the only candidate to head a new Syrian opposition umbrella group which factions trying to bring down president Bashar al Assad agreed to form yesterday, a delegate involved in choosing the leader said.

The leadership of Syria’s main opposition bloc in exile, the Syrian National Council, has become an all-male affair after elections failed to promote a single woman to a decision-making group of 41.

From his old school in Indonesia to a Japanese beach town that happens to share his name, people around the world have cheered Barack Obama’s re-election as US president today.

The Syrian army promised to observe a four-day ceasefire for a Muslim holiday starting today, while rebels claimed to have taken control of new areas in the key battleground of Aleppo.

The leader of the main Syrian opposition group said today that the chances of a truce proposed by the UN for a Muslim holiday this week are slim, partly because the plan is too vague.

Syria has accused some UN Security Council members of supporting “terrorism” in a speech clearly aimed at the United States and its allies that support the Syrian opposition.

France's decision to send direct aid to Syria's opposition amounts to so little that it is all but useless, rebels and activists say.

The head of the main Syrian opposition group has called for a massive aid programme to help rebuild his country, if president Bashar Assad is overthrown.

Western powers are preparing a tough response in case Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s regime deploys chemical or biological weapons, France’s foreign minister said.

A founding member of one of the main Syrian opposition groups has resigned, saying the political exiles trying to drum up support have hurt their own cause with their internal divisions.

French President Francois Hollande has called on Syria’s opposition to form a provisional government, saying that France would recognise such a government.

Syrian regime forces shelled two central Damascus districts today before troops backed by tanks swept through to carry out house-to-house raids, killing at least 35 suspected rebels, in a major flare-up of fighting in the Syrian capital, activists said.

A Syrian warplane crashed in flames in eastern Syria in disputed circumstances yesterday as President Bashar al-Assad’s forces pursued their drive to quell rebels in Aleppo and elsewhere.

Syrian rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al Assad need the protection of foreign-guarded no-fly zones and safe havens near the borders with Jordan and Turkey, a Syrian opposition leader said yesterday.

Syria’s prime minister has defected to the opposition seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, marking one of the highest profile desertions from the Damascus government.

It is estimated 200,000 civilians have fled fighting in Syria's biggest city of Aleppo.

The government of Bashar al-Assad has declared victory in a hard-fought battle for Syria’s capital Damascus, and pounded rebels who control parts of the country’s largest city Aleppo.

Syria’s most prominent defector has put himself forward as someone to unite the fractured opposition as the disparate factions were set to gather in Qatar today to try to agree on a transitional leadership if Bashar Assad’s regime is toppled.

A fourth member of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle died yesterday from wounds sustained in a bomb attack this week and his forces fought to recapture border posts and parts of Damascus from rebels targeting the heart of his power.

The Syrian ambassador to Iraq has defected and will seek asylum in Turkey, the most senior diplomat to abandon the regime since the uprising against president Bashar Assad began 16 months ago, a Syrian opposition figure said today.

International envoy Kofi Annan today urged the UN Security Council to send a message to the Syrian government and the opposition that there will be “consequences” if they do not comply with demands for an immediate ceasefire, a UN diplomat said.

The head of a prominent Syrian opposition group has strongly criticised Russia’s position on the country’s conflict during a visit to Moscow.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has suggested ending his country’s conflict on a step-by-step basis, starting with districts that have suffered the worst violence, international mediator Kofi Annan has said.

The United States and its European and Arab partners will threaten the Assad regime with international sanctions if it fails to adopt a Syrian peace plan that includes a new interim government, American officials said on the eve of an 80-nation conference.

Syrian opposition groups struggled to form a united leadership at a meeting which exposed vast disagreements that have prevented them from effectively leading the uprising against President Bashar Assad.

Turkey’s military says it scrambled fighter jets to its border on Saturday after Syrian helicopters flew too close to the frontier.

The head of the UN observers in Syria says that the growing violence is derailing their mission and could prompt the unarmed force to pull out.

The new head of Syria’s main opposition group has called for mass defections from a regime struggling to survive by carrying out massacres, as the death toll in the uprising topped 14,000.

Syrian government forces pounded areas in the central province of Homs today in a renewed push to regain control of rebel-held territories, and activists said at least 38 people were killed in shelling there over the past 24 hours.

The United Nations secretary general has warned that the danger of civil war in Syria is imminent, with “catastrophic” consequences for the region.

UN observers yesterday came under fire as they tried to reach the site of the latest reported mass killing in Syria — about 80 people, including women and children who were shot or stabbed. The deaths added urgency to diplomatic efforts to end the escalating bloodshed.

United Nations monitors were shot at while trying to get to the scene of the latest Syrian massacre, secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said today.

United Nations observers have been blocked by Syrian troops from the site of a new mass killing, the head of the monitoring team said today.

Syrian authorities have today denied the reports of a new massacre as "absolutely baseless".

Activists said pro-government militia men and security forces killed at least 78 people, including children, in Syria’s central province of Hama yesterday.

Syrian Opposition activists have said that at least 78 people have been killed in a massacre in Hama province.

Syrian president Bashar Assad has defended his government’s crackdown on opponents, saying a doctor performing emergency surgery does not have blood on his hands if he is trying to save a patient.

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad yesterday defended his government’s crackdown on opponents, saying a doctor performing messy emergency surgery does not have blood on his hands if he is trying to save a patient.

The UN's top human rights official said today that there should be no amnesty for serious crimes committed in Syria, even if the threat of prosecution might motivate members of the regime to cling to power at all costs.

In his first interview in nearly half a year, Syrian president Bashar Assad claimed his regime has captured foreign mercenaries who were fighting for the opposition in a bid to show his forces are fighting terrorists rather than pro-democracy activists.

Syrian forces have opened fire on thousands of protesters in Aleppo, a day after a raid on dormitories at the city's main university killed four students and forced the closure of the state-run school.

United Nations observers have inspected the site of an explosion which flattened a block of houses in the central Syrian city of Hama and killed at least 16 people, while the government and the opposition blamed each other for the blast.

A fragile ceasefire brokered by the UN took hold in Syria today with regime forces apparently halting widespread attacks on the opposition but still defying demands by international envoy Kofi Annan to pull troops back to barracks.

About 1,000 people have been killed by Syrian government forces in the last eight days, according to the country’s main opposition group.