The UN’s new envoy to Syria said today that president Bashar Assad’s regime should realise that the need for change is both “urgent” and “necessary” and that it must meet the “legitimate” demands of the Syrian people.

Syrian security forces pursuing anti-government protesters stormed a northern village today, killing at least one person and wounding many others during raids and house-to-house searches, activists said.

Syrian forces killed 24 people on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a human rights group said today.

Tens of thousands of Syrians shouting "We want freedom!" carried killed protesters through the streets today as opposition figures meeting in Turkey called for a united front to bring down the 40-year ruling dynasty of the Assad family.

Syrians ran for their lives today as elite army units swept through a northern province, expanding a deadly operation to crush signs of dissent against President Bashar Assad.