Government forces surrounded residents of a restive Syrian village in a valley and killed all those trapped inside — more than 100 people — in a barrage of rockets, tank shells, bombs and gunfire that lasted for hours, a witness and two activist groups said Wednesday.
The Arab League on Sunday overwhelmingly approved sanctions against Syria to pressure Damascus to end its deadly eight-month crackdown on dissent, an unprecedented move by the league against an Arab state.
Syria's embattled regime called for an urgent Arab summit Sunday as it faced growing isolation — not only by the West but by its neighbors — amid mounting pressure to end its bloody crackdown against an eight-month uprising.
The Arab League debated for hours Sunday on whether to suspend Syria's membership over the bloody crackdown on anti-regime protesters, but deep divisions among the 22 nations suggested the proposal will not pass.
A barrage of gunfire by security forces that left residents cowering in their homes killed at least nine people and wounded several others Wednesday in Homs, a hotbed of opposition to President Bashar Assad's autocratic regime, activists and residents said.
Egypt's military rulers Monday swore in a Cabinet that includes new faces in key ministries, responding to protesters' demands that the transition government be free of cronies of ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
Egypt's prime minister-designate named a caretaker Cabinet on Sunday to help lead the country through reforms and toward free elections after the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
