Syrian president Bashar Assad issued a general amnesty for prisoners that includes those deemed to have committed political “crimes” as pressure built from a 10-week-old uprising that his regime has failed to quell with overwhelming military force.

Taliban militants dug a lengthy tunnel underground and into the main jail in Kandahar city and whisked out more than 450 prisoners, most of whom were Taliban fighters, officials and insurgents said today.

A rubbish collector and the head of security for Baghdad University were killed in separate drive-by shootings today as a string of attacks left at least seven people dead in the Iraqi capital.