A group of men in Syria have pledged to marry women who were raped during the violence that swept the country in the recent months.

They have committed themselves to an unlikely way of challenging th

Syrian troops on Sunday seized the flashpoint northern town of Jisr al-Shughur, state television said, as international outrage mounted at the regime's harsh crackdown on protesters.

Rights activists

Syrian activists called protests on Friday over the dozens of children killed in anti-government protests after the opposition demanded President Bashar al-Assad’s “immediate resignation.”

Syrian security forces shot dead at least five people, including a child, as pro-democracy protests swept the country on Friday after weekly prayers, with demonstrators calling for more freedom in def

Syrian forces raided the hotbed city of Banias on Saturday and killed at least three protesters, activists said as President Bashar al-Assad's opponents proposed he offer elections to end the crisis.

Syrians prepared on Saturday to bury scores of people killed in a "day of rage" against the regime, with activists vowing a week of new protests as the United States and Europe imposed sanctions on Damascus.

Syria's southern town of Daraa came under sustained gunfire from troops on Tuesday as a military assault on the epicentre of pro-democracy protests raged into a second day, a rights activist said.

At

Syrian forces shot dead at least 38 people when they moved in to disperse thousands who took to the streets for ‘Good Friday’ protests to test long sought-after freedoms, sources said.

A day after Pr

Syrian forces shot dead at least 72 people as they tried to disperse thousands on the streets for 'Good Friday' protests to test long-sought freedoms, drawing Western condemnation, activists said.

A

UN chief Ban Ki-moon joined Western leaders in condemning Damascus after Syrian forces killed at least 75 people during "Good Friday" protests in one of the bloodiest days of a month-long uprising.