19 loses battle of life in Syrian clashes

While another eight died during a crackdown on protests in flashpoint Homs, rights activists said. The killings came as thousands of protesters took to the streets on the Muslim weekly day of prayer that is a lightning rod in the six months of anti-regime protests in which the UN says 2,700 people have been killed by a fierce crackdown. The activists said those killed in Homs province were shot dead by security forces who opened fire on protesters, even as around 250 tanks and armoured vehicles entered Rastan, a major city in the province where there have been intense military operations against army defectors for days. It said 32 soldiers were wounded in clashes overnight in Rastan and Talbisseh.