Syrian security forces are continuing their assault on cities and villages in the country's restive northwest, as world leaders are condemning the crackdown.
The Syrian news agency Sana and rights activists said Thursday that military units equipped with dozens of tanks and armored personnel carriers deployed near Khan Sheikhoun, circled Maarat al-Numaan and attacked two more villages, Shughur al-Kadima and Janudiyeh.
Hundreds of Syrians fled their homes to escape across the border into Turkey. Some said Syrian troops fired random shells at the villages and ransacked their homes.
The latest violence is part of the weeks-long assault by troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad on anti-government protesters seeking to end his 11-year reign. More than 1,300 civilians and 340 government troops have been killed since mid-March, but al-Assad has continued the crackdown over the increasingly vocal objections of world leaders.
On Thursday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the Syrian president to "stop killing people" and negotiate with the protesters "before it's too late."
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland called the government crackdown "revolting" and "barbaric." She said the U.S. has been increasing its contacts with Syrians inside and outside of the country who are seeking change.
Activists told the Associated Press that Syrian security forces have been randomly rounding up males over age 16. They told AP the detentions were concentrated in and around the major towns of Jisr al-Shughour - which elite forces occupied Sunday - and Maaret al-Numaan, where the army has massed troops for days in apparent preparation for a fresh operation.
In Ankara, Turkish officials, faced with caring for more than 8,900 Syrian refugees staying in makeshift tents, pressed an Assad envoy, Hassan Turkmani, to end the military campaign against the protesters.
After a Thursday meeting with the Syrian envoy, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu said his country is extending assistance to about 10,000 people who have massed along the Syrian side of the border.
Also Thursday, Syrian state television said telecom tycoon Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of the president, will quit his businesses and allocate profits to charity. Makhlouf controls several companies, including Syria's largest mobile phone operator, duty free shops, an airline and shares in at least one bank.
He is widely despised by government opponents for allegedly exploiting his relationship with Mr. Assad to build his commercial empire and cited in their calls for an end to official corruption.
Makhlouf is facing both European Union and U.S. sanctions.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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U.S. officials say they are optimistic a joint investigation underway with the South Korean government will conclude that there are no present environmental dangers from the alleged burial, decades ago, of toxic chemicals on a American military base in the country.
U.S. Ambassador Kathleen Stephens told reporters in Seoul on Friday potential health concerns to South Koreans, American military personnel and their dependents prompted a quick and full investigation.
"We've got to figure out what happened," she said. "These are charges that date from over 30 years ago. But I think we've made some progress in doing that. And this joint investigation is going along and will continue until we feel that we've addressed the issue to the satisfaction of all concerned."
Lee Won-seok, a researcher at South Korea's National Institute of Environmental Research, says there is nothing alarming from preliminary findings near Camp Carroll, a U.S. military base covering 40 hectares, in the southeastern part of the country.
Lee says the levels of dioxin detected at three locations two kilometers from the U.S. facility are too minute to be hazardous to humans.
South Korean and U.S. officials also say there is no evidence, at this stage, that the dioxin came from the defoliant Agent Orange. Scientists say they are continuing to evaluate more water samples. Results of remaining inspections are expected to be released next month.
Dioxin is a compound of the chemical, previously used to clear jungles during the Vietnam War and along the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
An investigation was quickly launched after three U.S. military veterans told a television station in the U.S. state of Arizona that they were ordered to bury Agent Orange at the Army camp in 1978.
U.S. military records indicate barrels of chemicals and soil were removed from the bases in 1979 and 1980, but American officials say the documents do not reveal if the chemicals removed included Agent Orange.
There have been concerns that the revelations of alleged dumping of toxic chemicals could re-ignite anti-American sentiments in South Korea. The United States has more than 28,000 military personnel stationed in the country.
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Armed militants have renewed attacks against government buildings near the southern Yemeni town of Houta, which they had assaulted on Wednesday.
Residents said the attackers in Thursday's raid briefly took over a security headquarters and council offices in Masameer, which is close to Houta, before retreating.
Also Thursday, Yemen's Defense Ministry said two people were killed after "terrorists" fired mortar rounds in the city of Zinjibar, most of whose population has fled to the port of Aden. Militants seized Zinjibar and another southern city in May.
Meanwhile, Yemeni authorities say they arrested 10 suspected al-Qaida suspects who had infiltrated Aden from Abyan province. Abyan is an al-Qaida stronghold.
On Wednesday, the Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia, or Supporters of Sharia (Islamic law), attacked Houta before dawn, briefly seizing key areas of the provincial capital and battling with government security forces.
The assaults have raised concerns about increased violence from Islamist groups in Yemen's restive south amid nationwide anti-government protests and the absence of embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
President Saleh is recuperating in Saudi Arabia from injuries sustained in a bomb attack on his presidential compound earlier this month.
Yemeni state media quoted Saleh Thursday as telling Bahrain's king by telephone that his health is improving and expressing confidence that Yemen is capable of overcoming the current crisis.
Anti-government demonstrators in Yemen want Saleh to step down. Protesters have been calling for a transitional council that excludes members of the current government.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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A report in Thursday's edition of The New York Times says that the head of Pakistan's military, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, is fighting to save his position as his officer corps reacts with fury to last month's U.S. commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden in the Pakistan's garrison city of Abbottabad.
Citing unnamed sources and former Pakistani army officers, the newpaper story reports the support within the military for General Kayani's leadership is eroding and that the man who has led Pakistan's armed forces for the last three-and-a-half years could take the fall in the aftermath of the Abbottabad raid, which has plunged the country into a downward spiral.
The article says the officer corps, which feels humiliated by the May 2 raid conducted by U.S. Special Forces, are pressing Kayani to take a stronger stand against America - to the point of severing the U.S.-Pakistani military alliance.
When asked about reports in the Western media claiming Kayani was about to be replaced, government spokesperson Tehmina Janjua was brief and to the point.
"I would not like to make any comment on speculative reports that are completely baseless," she said.
Traditionally, the military has been beyond criticism in Pakistan. It is often seen as the last line of defense against threats, both foreign and domestic, and thus has been significantly funded and held in high regard.
But in the fallout from the U.S. raid into sovereign Pakistani territory, which the Pakistani military apparently neither tried to stop nor even monitored, that reputation has been called into question.
Pakistani politician and journalist Ayaz Amir says the now-constant attacks in both the Pakistani and foreign media are taking their toll on the armed forces.
"There is almost a sense of outrage as far as public opinion is concerned, and there are every day in the media there are things about, there are questions about your competence, about whether or not you knew anything," Amir says. "So it's bound to have an effect on the morale of the army. And this kind of back-to-the-wall feeling, a feeling of being very hurt. It has really created an atmosphere of paranoia. It's not a very good time for the army," he says.
The military has also long had a difficult relationship with the civilian authorities in Pakistan, which has experienced four periods of military dictatorship.
Political analyst Hassan Askari says there are parties that sense the military's weakness and are capitalizing on it.
"There are political forces that want to make their own gains, therefore their theory is to make sure that when the military is down and is in difficulties it is the time to really press the military hard and to have their own agendas to be served," says Askari.
With attacks from various quarters continuing, there is concern the military may begin a push back. But after four failed attempts at running the country, some in Pakistan insist there will not be another military takeover - even if there is the possibility, as The New York Times article suggests, of a revolt within the army.
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Militant Islamist group Boko Haram is claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing outside a police headquarters in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, Thursday. At least two people were killed and several others wounded in the blast.
Nigerian police spokesman Olusola Amore says the explosion struck the parking lot of a police headquarters Thursday morning, killing the suspected suicide bomber and a police traffic warden, and destroying at least 30 cars.
Amore said the explosion occurred when the traffic warden climbed into the bomber's vehicle to direct it to the parking lot to be searched.
"The criminal elements behind this dastardly act will be fished out as the government, the police and other security agencies will not succumb to the demands of any criminal group or individuals," said Amore.
The police spokesman said an investigation is underway, adding that police suspect the radical Nigerian group Boko Haram was behind the attack.
A spokesman for Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the explosion in an interview Thursday with VOA.
Spokesman Usman Alzawahiri says yes, the blast is their handiwork. We are behind it, he says, and we are going to attack the entire north and other parts of the country, including the capital, Abuja. He says Boko Haram personnel just returned from Somalia five days ago and have been scattered around northern parts of the country. He says they are advising everyone to be wary.
Earlier this week, the group had laid out its conditions for a ceasefire and government-proposed peace talks.
However, Alzawahiri told VOA that for the moment, those efforts at reconciliation had collapsed and security agencies should prepare for intensified attacks.
Boko Haram claimed responsibility earlier this month for a series of bombings that killed 16 people after President Goodluck Jonathan's inauguration.
The group is also blamed for the killings of Muslim and Christian religious leaders and at least three bomb attacks this month in Borno State.
The group's name in the Hausa language means "Western education in a sin." It seeks to undermine state authority and calls for the stricter application of sharia, or Islamic law, in Nigeria.
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As violence continues along Sudan's disputed north-south border, the government of Sudan has rejected U.S. President Barack Obama's demand for peace.
On the defensive after international condemnation of an aerial bombing campaign in Sudan's Southern Kordofan State, the government in Khartoum is claiming the attacks were prompted by aggression on the part of south Sudan's military forces.
The clashes between the northern Sudanese Armed Forces and elements of the south's Sudan People's Liberation Army broke out two weeks ago, after attempts by the northern forces to disarm fighters in the area. According to the United Nations, some 60,000 have fled Southern Kordofan, seeking refuge from the violence.
Late Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama urged extreme caution on both sides, in an attempt to push Sudan back from the brink of war.
"There is no military solution," said Obama. "The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan must live up to their responsibilities. The government of Sudan must prevent a further escalation of this crisis by ceasing its military actions immediately including aerial bombardments, forced displacements and campaigns of intimidation."
The bombings come just three weeks before south Sudan declares independence and Sudan officially splits into two nations. The separation will mark the culmination of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended two decades of civil war between the government and southern rebels.
Obama warned the leaders of both governments they faced international isolation should the violence continue. He further pressed the government of north Sudan, reminding leaders of the U.S. promise to normalize relations with Khartoum in return for their adherence to the CPA.
But the government in Khartoum has rejected implications that it initiated the violence. On Thursday, the Sudan Tribune reported that Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has claimed the bombardments were in retaliation to escalation on the part of South Sudan and attacks on local police.
In a statement issued through the Sudanese News Agency, the ministry spokesman al-Ubayid Muroah, accused the United States of using intimidation tactics against the government in Khartoum.
As the official secession of South Sudan approaches, peace appears to be deteriorating throughout the region, prompting fears of escalation and a return to civil war. In the disputed region of Abyei, southern army spokesman Philip Aguer reported that five northern soldiers were killed in clashes along the River Kiir on Wednesday.
Under the CPA, Abyei was supposed to hold a referendum to determine whether it remained with the north or joined an independent south. However the issue of Abyei, along with other critical issues such as border demarcation and oil revenue-sharing remain unresolved.
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Top Pentagon officials say the U.S. military will capture and kill al-Qaida's new leader and that he will meet the same fate as Osama bin Laden.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told reporters at the Pentagon Ayman al-Zawahri will face challenges as al-Qaida's new leader, saying he lacks what Gates referred to as bin Laden's "peculiar charisma."
Gates says Zawahri, who was bin Laden's deputy, also does not have the operational experience of the former leader who was killed last month by U.S. Special Forces during a raid in Pakistan.
"This announcement by al-Qaida reminds us that despite having suffered a huge loss with the killing of bin Laden and a number of others al-Qaida seeks to perpetuate itself, seeks to find replacements for those who have been killed and remains committed to the agenda that bin Laden put before them," said Gates.
Joining Gates at the briefing was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen who said the U.S. will hunt down al-Qaida's new leader.
"He and his organization still threaten us," said Mullen. "As we did both seek to capture and kill and succeed in killing bin Laden we certainly will do the same thing with Zawahri."
Since the death of bin Laden U.S. relations with Pakistan have been severely strained and some members of the Congress have questioned the billions of dollars in aid sent by Washington to Islamabad.
Secretary Gates said Pakistan remains an important ally and the lines of communication between the two countries must remain open.
"We need each other and we need each other more than just in the context of Afghanistan," he said. "Pakistan is an important player in terms of regional stability and in terms of Central Asia and so my view is that this is a relationship where we just need to keep working at it."
Admiral Mullen, who along with Gates has made repeated trips to Pakistan, says terrorists in South Asia seek to get their hands on Islamabad's nuclear technology.
"Of those things that I fear in the future it is the proliferation of that technology and it is the opportunity and the potential that it could fall into the hands of terrorists, many of whom are alive and well and seek that in that region and that is of great interest I think to our country and certainly to the rest of the world," he said.
The media briefing is expected to be the last for Secretary Gates at the Pentagon, who is retiring after four-and-a-half years on the job at the end of this month.
U.S. President Barack Obama has chosen CIA director Leon Panetta to takeover at the Pentagon.
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One of China's largest civilian patrol ships is crossing through the South China Sea, where tensions are heightened because of territorial disputes over islands believed to sit on top of huge oil and gas deposits.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the Haixun 31 has already left from its home base in southern Guangdong province.
He said it is heading to Singapore on what he described as a regular visit.
Disputes in the South China Sea
1988, March - China sinks three Vietnamese vessels near the Spratly Islands, killing more than 70 Vietnamese.
1991 - China passes the Law on Territorial Waters and Their Contiguous Areas, laying out its claim to territorial sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands.
1995, 1999 - The Philippines discovers Chinese constructions on Mischief Reef, an island located in the Spratly Island chain. Despite efforts to resolve the dispute, more structures are found on the reef in 1999. Manila says the structures are a military installation while Beijing says they are for fishermen.
2002 - China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations sign a non-binding Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.
2009, March – Chinese ships and fishermen harass a U.S. naval vessel in the South China Sea. According to the Pentagon, the Chinese vessels harassed the Impeccable, about 120 kilometers off Hainan island, south of China.
2011, May – Chinese vessels cut an exploration cable on a Vietnamese oil survey ship in waters, within Vietnam's exclusive economic zone.
2011, June - The Philippines complains that Chinese ships offloaded building materials and erected marker posts on reefs to the west of its island of Palawan, within Manila's exclusive economic zone.
The voyage marks the first time Chinese authorities have sent a large patrol boat to visit a foreign country, although other nations routinely carry-out such missions as a way to improve relations.
The route to Singapore is expected to take the Haixun 31 near areas in which similar Chinese patrol boats were involved in recent incidents that raised tensions with the Philippines and Vietnam.
The main territorial dispute in the South China Sea involves the Spratly Islands, which are near key shipping lanes and are believed to sit on top of huge deposits of oil and gas.
China's claims to the islands overlap with claims from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
China in recent weeks has traded heated words about the maritime dispute with the Philippines and Vietnam. Earlier this week Hanoi held live-fire naval exercises.
Chinese media reports about the patrol ship did not specifically mention territorial disputes. But they did emphasize that the voyage is aimed at demonstrating Beijing's resolve to defend its territorial claims.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has largely pushed a multilateral solution to the Spratly dispute.
The Chinese spokesman indicated his country still prefers to deal with each claimant individually.
He says China wants to resolve South China Sea disputes through direct negotiations and is committed to maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea. He said this position will, in his words, never change.
Legislation in the U.S. Congress condemns China for its aggressive actions in the South China Sea, and urges a peaceful, multilateral, resolution.
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This year Taiwan started to deploy supersonic anti-ship missiles in response to China's growing naval arsenal. Those third generation Hsiung Feng missiles that are now positioned on some 20 ships point to a strengthening in Taiwan's normally low-key domestic missile production. But its military might is growing at a time when relations with Beijing are better than ever.
Taiwan develops advanced weaponary
Weapons production is all but natural for the island that long ago mastered high-technology for commercial aims as diverse as machine tools and semiconductors. During the past 30 years, Taiwanese military researchers have developed anti-ship, surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles as well as an indigenous defense fighters and more commonplace sea mines and torpedoes. Analysts say the quality is steadily increasing.
In March this year, the military test fired domestic and U.S.-made missiles at the Chiu Peng Test Range in a remote coastal area of southern Taiwan. Despite some misses during the test, it says 70 to 90 percent of its missiles are in good shape, including those made here on the island.
Preparing to fend off attacks
Some 160 kilometers away from the coast is China, Taiwan's would-be target ever since Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists lost the Chinese civil war of the 1940s and fled to Taiwan. China's Communists still claim sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan today and have not renounced the threat of force if Taiwan moves toward formal independence.
Beijing spends about $92 billion, 10 times more than Taiwan, per year on its quickly modernizing military and is considered far ahead in terms of fire power. Taiwan officials complain that Beijing is always adding to its arsenal of an estimated 1,900 missiles aimed at the island.
Taiwan military officials will not give a budget for homegrown arms, calling it a state secret. But a defense spokesman said the budget for acquiring U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets would decrease in 2012. Nathan Liu, a military relations scholar at Taiwan's Mingchuan University, Taiwan's own weapons have the firepower to fend off an attack but the government may not have the budget to mount a strong defense.
Budget challenges
"In terms of technology and capability, I think Taiwan has that kind of capability, but we don't have enough of a budget. Because of the limit of budget, so we couldn't produce (a large) enough number of missiles. So if we don't have enough number of missiles, which means that we can't launch any meaningful attack, so it really doesn't make too much sense," said Liu.
China still warily watches the island's military production. Earlier this year official Chinese media reported that a Taiwanese multiple rocket launcher was deployed on an outlying island near China but later taken offline. The subject of the third-generation Hsiung Feng missiles, which can travel at twice the speed of sound with a range of 130 kilometers, appeared on a Chinese news forum. Beijing could become more alarmed if Taiwan pursues widely reported plans to build a long-range ballistic missile dubbed the Hsiung Feng-2E with a 400-kilogram warhead.
Strategic, economic relationship with China
Apart from their military maneuvering, Taiwan's relations with China have improved markedly since 2008. Nationalist Party President Ma Ying-jeou has increased trade dialogue with Beijing, which is eager to reunify with Taiwan through peaceful means.
Raymond Wu, managing partner with the political risk consultancy e-telligence in Taipei, says homegrown weapons are still popular across party lines.
"Despite the tremendous progress in cross-Strait economic relations during the past three years, I think the issue of national security is still very, very important for the majority in Taiwan. So given the fact that there is a lot of support within Taiwan for strong national defense then there's the need for the government, for the military forces to continue to upgrade military preparedness and also the weapons capabilities," stated Wu.
Wu says the arms industry is also seen among the Taiwanese public as a way to secure more power at the bargaining table with China in economic and other issues. But he says the support is also because the island's historic top arms supplier, the United States, in recent years has been more reluctant to sell heavy weapons.
US weapons in Taiwan
"Given the fact that the trilateral relations between United States, China and Taiwan is a delicate balance, the sale of U.S. weapons to Taiwan has always been ultra-sensitive. Therefore there is the continued need for Taiwan to upgrade our self-defense forces and capabilities," said Wu.
Although they have sold arms to Taiwan for decades, U.S. officials risk upsetting their uneasy strategic and economic relationship with China with new weapon sales. In January 2010 Beijing fumed and suspended military exchanges after Washington approved a $6.4 billion arms package to Taiwan. Since last year, U.S. diplomats in Taipei have said they would broadly evaluate Taiwan's defense needs, possibly deciding against new hardware.
A spokesman for the island's National Ministry of Defense said Taiwan needs its own weapons to ensure timely production. But he stopped short of saying the United States, its main arms supplier, is too slow in processing the island's requests for U.S.-made weapons. Taipei is still urging Washington to approve the sale of as many as 66 F-16 jets, and members of the U.S. Congress are stepping up pressure on President Barack Obama to approve the order.
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President Barack Obama will host his main political rival, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, in a round of golf on Saturday. No substantive agreements are expected, but an afternoon of golf between the two leaders may improve their relationship.
President Obama and the top House Republican have clashed on issues ranging from the U.S. economy to health care reform to the military action in Libya.
In hopes of easing those tensions, Mr. Obama recently invited Speaker Boehner to join him for a round of golf.
Both sides have worked to quash expectations that any serious issues will be resolved on the golf course.
But White House Press Secretary Jay Carney says the president and the speaker may be able to better work together after sharing a relaxing afternoon on the links.
"Spending a number of hours together in that kind of environment, I think, can only help improve the chances of bipartisan cooperation," he said. "It certainly cannot hurt it. Unless someone wins really big, and then…."
Don Van Natta wrote a book about U.S. presidents and their golf games, titled "First Off the Tee: Presidential Hackers, Duffers, and Cheaters from Taft to Bush." He says if either golfer is expected to win convincingly on Saturday, it is Boehner.
"From what I have heard, Speaker Boehner is about 12 to 15 strokes better than the president, which means the president is being quite courageous in inviting the speaker to play, because without a doubt, Speaker Boehner is going to get the best of the president on the links on Saturday," he said.
However, Mr. Obama's playing partner will be Vice President Joe Biden, whose golf game is said to rival that of Boehner. The speaker's partner will be the Republican governor of his home state of Ohio, John Kasich.
President Obama usually golfs with friends and White House aides. Van Natta says it is highly unusual for a president to invite a political opponent to join him on the course.
"The closest example in history is Lyndon Baines Johnson, who played with Senators from the opposing party who he wanted to lobby to vote for the civil rights legislation in the mid-[19]60's," he said.
According to Don Van Natta, Mr. Obama started playing golf about 15 years ago, at the suggestion of his wife Michelle. She was said to be concerned that her husband was being injured too often while playing basketball.
Spokesman Jay Carney says Mr. Obama plays golf for the same reason as most other presidents-to relax and take a break from the pressures of the office.
"I think a lot of presidents who have occupied this house and this West Wing look for ways to literally get outdoors where you are not surrounded by people," he said. "The process itself is one he enjoys as much as the game, which he does enjoy, and he is a competitive guy."
For that and other reasons, golf has been a popular pastime among U.S. leaders for at least 100 years.
Van Natta says William Howard Taft was the first U.S. president to play golf regularly, and he loved the game.
"He was actually quite upset on one occasion when he had to meet with the president from Chile," he said. "It conflicted with one of his golf outings, and he said, 'I will be damned if I am going to give up my golf game to see this fellow.'"
Van Natta says 15 of the past 18 presidents have played golf at least occasionally.
Dwight Eisenhower played more than 800 rounds in his eight years in office, and had a putting green installed near the Oval Office.
Gerald Ford suffered damage to his image after a ball he had hit accidentally flew into a crowd of spectators and struck a woman on the head.
Both the president and the speaker have been practicing for their 18 holes on Saturday.
And in a recent interview, Boehner said playing golf is "a great way to really get to know someone."
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Syrian rights activists say the country's security forces are expanding their assault in the northwest region that for days has been under a military crackdown.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday that the Syrian military used dozens of tanks, armored cars, personnel carriers and army trucks to begin an assault on Khan Sheikhun in Idlib province.
The Khan Sheikhun military operation is the latest in the weeks-long campaign by President Bashar al-Assad to suppress the anti-government protests that are threatening his 11-year rule.
World powers have widely condemned the Syrian crackdown.
On Thursday, U.N. Secretary General Ban ki-Moon said he had spoken to Assad and urged him to "stop killing people."
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland called the government crackdown "revolting" and "barbaric." In a Thursday briefing, she also said the U.S. has been increasing its contacts with Syrians inside and outside of the country who are seeking change.
In Ankara, Turkish officials, faced with caring for more than 8,900 Syrian refugees staying in makeshift tents, pressed an Assad envoy, Hassan Turkmani, to end the military campaign against the protesters.
After a Thursday meeting with the Syrian envoy, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu said his country is also extending assistance to about 10,000 people who had massed along the Syrian side of the border.
On Wednesday, hundreds of Syrians fled the northern city of Maarat al-Numan ahead of a feared military assault. Witnesses and activists in Maarat al-Numan say Syrian troops intermittently shelled areas near the city and raided nearby villages, making arrests.
Witness accounts say army units have also surrounded the eastern town of of al-Boukamal near the Iraqi border, where clashes have broken out between protesters and Assad loyalists. Forces also entered nearby Deir al-Zour, one of Syria's largest cities, where protests continued.
Rights activists say 1,300 civilians and 340 security force members have been killed since the protests against Assad's government began in mid-March. About 10,000 people have been detained.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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China has announced that Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir will visit China at the end of this month.
The Sudanese leader is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges and on Thursday he canceled a planned visit to Malaysia following protests from human rights groups
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei says Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir will make an official visit to China on June 27. Hong says during his visit, Bashir will meet with President Hu Jintao and other Chinese leaders.
He said China and Sudan have what he described as a traditional friendship, and have maintained frequent mutual visits, especially in recent years.
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Bashir on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Sudan's western Darfur region. However Bashir has traveled abroad before without arrest.
In Beijing Thursday, the Chinese spokesman said trade volume with Sudan has increased to the point that it is now China's third largest trading partner in Africa.
China has extensive oil cooperation with Sudan, which is seen by many Western nations as a pariah state. Economic cooperation between the two countries also includes irrigation works, power generation, telecommunications and infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Hong said China would like to play a positive role in encouraging peace and reconciliation in Sudan.
He mentioned Sudan's North-South peace process and the Darfur issue specifically. He said China would like to see the implementation of a comprehensive peace agreement in Sudan, as well as peace and stability in the region.
The news of Bashir's visit to Beijing comes after Malaysia said President Bashir will not be attending a three-day economic forum that starts on Sunday. This week human rights groups pressured Malaysia to rescind his invitation or arrest him when he was in the Southeast Asian nation.
Malaysian authorities told state TV that Bashir will not attend the conference because of other pressing engagements.
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U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner is resigning from the House of Representatives after an Internet sex scandal.
The married New York Democrat announced his decision to step down on Thursday, saying the "distraction" he had created had made it impossible to continue his work in Congress.
He apologized for what he called "personal mistakes" and for the embarrassment he caused.
Earlier Thursday, the speaker of the House, Republican John Boehner, called the Weiner issue an "unnecessary" distraction and said the American people want Congress to focus on creating jobs. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said she would not talk about Weiner before his announcement.
Weiner has admitted to exchanging explicit photographs and messages with six women during the past three years.
His indiscretions became public late last month when a lewd photo sent to a female college student showed up on his Twitter feed.
Weiner initially claimed his account had been hacked. But more than a week later, the 46-year-old congressman acknowledged the photo was his and that he had sent it.
U.S. President Barack Obama had called the congressman's behavior "highly inappropriate" and suggested he resign from Congress.
Weiner's wife of nearly one year, Huma Abedin, is a long-time aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Last week, The New York Times reported that Abedin is pregnant with the couple's first child. Abedin did not join Weiner at his news conference Thursday, but he said she has stood with him throughout the "entire difficult period."
Weiner said he never met any of the women he corresponded with online and by phone and that he was not sure of their ages. One woman who has spoken out about her online relationship with Weiner is a former porn star. The congressman also corresponded with a 17-year-old girl, but local authorities found nothing inappropriate in those exchanges.
Pelosi had also called for an ethics investigation to determine whether Weiner used any official resources in his communications or if any other violation of House rules occurred. Pelosi had said Weiner needs help and should get some "without the pressures of being a member of Congress."
Weiner says he did not break the law.
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Higher fuel taxes in Togo are driving motorists to the black market for gasoline and diesel as service stations lose customers to the illegal trade.
A five percent increase in Togolese fuel taxes has created a thriving black market for motorists unwilling to pay the equivalent of $1.24 for a liter of unleaded petrol when that same fuel was previously $1.18 per liter.
Lome motorbike taxi driver Aboubakar Dare says higher taxes cut into his profit.
Fuel prices are rising on the world market. There is nothing Togolese can do about that, Dare says, but the government has to do something about it.
Service station attendant Paulin Amevo says black market fuel merchants setting up shop by the side of the road are undercutting commercial service stations.
Amevo says black market traders next to his service station are stealing customers because 1,000 francs no longer buys two liters of fuel from a service station while the same 1,000 francs buys more than two liters on the black market. Amevo says consumers know buying fuel on the black market could damage their engines but they prefer the lower prices.
Togo's government says fuel subsidies that cost it $10 million in the first five months of the year are unsustainable and were dragging down the budget.
Togo's Trade Minister Artheme Zunu says the fuel tax increase is fair because it was limited to five percent and came with the elimination of other consumer taxes to lessen its impact.
World fuel prices near 10-year highs are driving up the cost of transporting food. That has contributed to demonstrations in Kenya, Sudan, and Burkina Faso.
Kenya lowered taxes on diesel and kerosene in April. Uganda scrapped its tax on paraffin but maintained petrol and diesel levies. Rwanda last week cut its fuel taxes to contain inflation.
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The European Union's top economic official says he expects eurozone finance ministers to sign off on the payout of $17 billion in aid for Greece on Sunday and decide on a new bailout in July. The news comes on the heels of the prime minister of Greece reshuffling his Cabinet in an effort to push through a tough austerity package that has many Greek citizens in uproar.
EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said Thursday the two-step approach means that the funding of the Greek debt can now be ensured until September, saving it from the immediate risk of default. But, he said, a decision on a new longer-term bailout will be delayed until July amid disagreement over the role of private investors.
Rehn said it was "regrettable" that the efforts to build national unity in Greece failed Wednesday, but that he still expected parliament to pass new austerity measures.
On Wednesday, Greek citizens came out in the tens of thousands to protest the measures that Prime Minister George Papandreou is determined to push through parliament.
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Papandreou responded by saying he will reshuffle his Cabinet and seek a vote of confidence for his new government in parliament. Papandreou added he will continue on what he called the "road of duty," together with his party members, officials, and the Greek people.
His plan to reshuffle the Cabinet came on the same day that anti-austerity riots hit Athens and coalition talks with the opposition failed.
Even some members of Papandreou's Socialist party are not behind his measures. On Thursday, two lawmakers from his party stepped down.
In Greece, the reaction to Papandreou's policy was mixed. A recent poll carried out by a market research company called Public Issue showed the main opposition party is beating the ruling Pasok socialist party in voter support.
Greek citizen Amalia Stinga says the prime minister is not making the effort he needs to make. She believes Papandreou is afraid. She adds that if he were not afraid, he would have done things differently.
Greece is in major debt and unable to pay back the money it owes. Last year, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pledged multi-billion-dollar loans in order to help Greece out of its financial troubles. But that money is conditional upon a tough austerity program.
Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Center for European Reform, based in London, says the current political turmoil in Greece was unavoidable given the terms set by the EU and the IMF.
"What they are trying to do is almost impossible economically," noted Tilford. "The Greeks have met the terms of their fiscal austerity program. They have cut public spending by more than any other developed economy has ever done in such a short space of time. But because those public spending cuts have hit economic growth harder than the EU or the IMF thought they would, they are still in breach of their agreement."
Tilford adds that there is a limit to how much any country can cut spending. And right now, spending cuts are only serving to stifle the Greek economy. He calls the situation a "death trap."
"Unless there is a change of track by the EU and the IMF, further political instability is all but guaranteed," Tilford noted.
On Thursday, world stocks hit a three-month low and the euro slumped to a one-month low.
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Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva has named center-right leader Pedro Passos Coelho as the new prime minister of the financially troubled country.
Coelho and his Social Democrat Party won this month's parliamentary elections, knocking the Socialists out of power.
The new prime minister said he will work quickly to form a new coalition government with the right-wing CDS-PP and start working to solve the country's economic problems.
The new government will have to implement an unpopular series of deep spending cuts and economic reforms demanded by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
The EU and IMF granted Portugal a $110-billion bailout in exchange for implementing the reforms, which are aimed at helping the country emerge from its economic woes.
Former Socialist prime minister Jose Socrates resigned in March, when the old parliament rejected his economic reform package. Socrates had struggled to avoid turning to the EU and IMF for help.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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Ayman al-Zawahri, the new leader of the al-Qaida terror network, was born into a life of comfort in Egypt, but shaped by life experiences into a feared radical Islamic terrorist.
He is a surgeon by training but an ideological firebrand by choice. Now he is replacing Osama bin Laden, who was killed last month by U.S. commandos in a raid on his Pakistani hideout.
Zawahri was bin Laden's deputy, supporting al-Qaida with his organizational and tactical skills, the first to espouse the use of suicide bombings and independent terror cells. His jihad, or holy war mission, was simple and straightforward - inflict "as many casualties as possible" on the Americans and their allies, especially Israel.
Now he is believed to be living somewhere in the mountainous region near the Afghan-Pakistani border, with the U.S. offering a $25 million reward for information leading to his capture. In regular videotapes, he has condemned the U.S., saying that al-Qaida's fight will not be ended until the Western powers leave "the lands of the Muslims."
He was born in Cairo to a wealthy family of doctors and scholars and became involved with radical Islam as a teenager. Like many educated young Egyptians, he was outraged at the treatment of Islamists in the 1960s as Egypt moved toward a Soviet-style state under socialist Gamel Abdel Nasser. Thousands of people suspected of subversion were thrown in jail.
While earning a medical degree, he helped to form the Egyptian Islamic Jihad militant group.
Zawahri traveled to Pakistan for the first time in 1980, working with the Red Crescent Society in the city of Peshawar to provide medical treatment to Afghans wounded in fighting with Soviet troops occupying neighboring Afghanistan. He also made his first trips into Afghanistan that year.
Later, he was one of hundreds tried for links to the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. He was acquitted of that, but served a three-year term for illegal arms possession. After his release in 1984, Zawahri returned to Peshawar to support the Afghan insurgency against the Soviets and formed a bond with bin Laden, serving as his personal doctor.
In 1998, Zawahri formed an alliance with bin Laden, becoming his deputy. The United States accuses the Egyptian of helping to organize the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania later that year.
Zawahri also is suspected of playing a major role in the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, for which al-Qaida claimed responsibility from its base in Afghanistan. He went into hiding with bin Laden when U.S.-led forces invaded Afghanistan weeks later, ousting the country's Taliban militant rulers, who had sheltered the terror network.
Zawahri's hatred of the U.S. also became personal: A U.S. air strike killed the Egyptian's wife and at least two of his children in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province in December 2001.
Zawahri proceeded to rebuild al-Qaida in the lawless tribal regions of the Afghan-Pakistani border and became the new face of the terror network, releasing videos and audiotapes taunting the United States as bin Laden faded from view.
In some videos, the bearded Zawahri could be seen jabbing his finger and staring from behind heavy-rimmed glasses. The Central Intelligence Agency came close to killing or capturing him several times in the Pakistani tribal region.
But he remains at large and now, as he turns 60 later this week, has become the head of al-Qaida.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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