Syria's opposition warned Friday of a looming "massacre" as it reported thousands of regime forces and militiamen encircled the protest hub of Homs for an expected final assault to crush dissent

The March 14 General Secretariat condemned on Wednesday Hizbullah and the AMAL movement’s shutdown of the Zahrani power plant

Addressing the developments in Syria, it urged the Arab League and international community to speed up measures that would ensure “the liberation of the Syrian people from the clutches of oppression and terrorization

 Former Israeli president Moshe Katsav began serving a seven-year prison term for rape on Wednesday, professing his innocence and saying he was being "buried alive"

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights cited witnesses as saying 34 bodies were dumped  in Homs

 Russian voters dealt Vladimir Putin's ruling party a heavy blow on Sunday by cutting its parliamentary majority in an election that showed growing unease with his domination of the country as he prepares to reclaim the presidency

Syria faced new sanctions after flouting Sunday an Arab League deadline to accept observers to monitor the unrest sweeping the country, which the U.N. says has killed more than 4,000 people