Shells slammed into the central Syrian city of Homs today, killing more than two dozen people, activists said, as Syria’s government defied ceasefire demands and international efforts to boost the rebels.

Syria's authoritarian regime held a referendum on a new constitution today, a gesture by embattled president Bashar Assad to placate those seeking the end of his rule.

Two suicide car bombers struck Syrian security compounds in the northern city of Aleppo yesterday, killing 28 people officials said, while in besieged Homs, opposition areas endured another day of bombardment by President Bashar al-Assad’s troops.

PRIME Minister Adel Safar urged Syrians to vote in local elections to save the nation from “conspiracies against us”, but activists struggling to oust President Bashar-al Assad rejected the ballot as irrelevant at a time of violent unrest.

SYRIA has said it will accept observers as part of an Arab League plan to end deadly unrest if its conditions are met, in a last-ditch bid to stave off crippling sanctions.

Tens of thousands of Syrians held a massive rally today in support of embattled President Bashar Assad.

Syrian security forces have opened fire on protesters in three different parts of the country, killing at least seven, reports say.

Clashes between Syrian troops and army defectors in the country’s north west killed four people today, while gunmen shot dead a political activist in the latest in a wave of targeted killings in a rebellious central city, activists said.

A besieged Syrian city came under fresh artillery fire early today as a deadly military assault left President Bashar Assad’s regime increasingly isolated, with Arab nations forcefully joining the international chorus of condemnation for the first time.

Arab-world outrage at Syria’s brutal crackdown has intensified as, for the first time, its neighbours joined the international chorus of condemnation against President Bashar Assad’s regime.

Syrian troops backed by tanks and firing heavy machine guns swept into a village near the Turkish border today as the army intensified operations in the northwest where their have been heavy clashes between loyalist troops and defectors.

Syrian security forces have shot dead eight people – including a 16-year-old boy – during anti-government protests, reports say.