Syria army presses advance near Damascus

Syrian government forces bombarded one of two remaining rebel holdouts in the strategic Qalamoun region on Friday, a day after taking a key town in the area north of Damascus. Troops are trying to encircle rebels near Damascus, pushing to capture the Qalamoun region and sever rebel supply lines across the border with Lebanon. The town of 55,000, including a Christian minority, lies 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Damascus, and an NGO said troops backed by Lebanon's Shiite group Hezbollah had moved in on Thursday night. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the army was shelling rebel positions that had halted its advance.