Assad continues to bomb Sunni areas of Damascus as rebels take control of suburbs, democratic world hold key to ending carnage: Damascus violence erupts as dictatorship bombs neighborhoods to dust

Syria tanks, warplanes pound Damascus region: NGO

Syrian warplanes and tanks pounded rebel strongholds in Damascus province on Tuesday, a watchdog said, as a pro-regime daily reported clashes in a camp housing Palestinian refugees. Fighter jets launched strikes on the town of Douma, northeast of Damascus, and overflew parts of Eastern Ghuta region.

Fresh clashes in Syria’s Homs, as Russians flee

A fresh outbreak of fierce fighting has gripped the strategic Syrian city of Homs, a watchdog said Tuesday, as Russia warned of a protracted civil war and helped its citizens flee the violence. A day after Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said a UN-backed peace mission has yet to yield.

Start of something big? Russia pulls a hundred citizens from Syria. (+video)

The Christian Science Monitor

Russia began a small-scale evacuation of about 100 of its citizens from Syria Tuesday, in what experts warn could at any moment develop into a huge air-and-sealift of the up-to-40,000 Russians and their dependents believed to be in the war-torn country. Russian media reported.