The Syrian government fell early Sunday in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family after a sudden rebel offensive sprinted across government-held territory and entered the capital in 10 days.

Russia has launched airstrikes around Homs to try and stall the rebel advance. But with signs the Kremlin’s help may not be enough, Assad is pressing on with back-channel negotiations.

When Israel ordered more than 143,000 of its citizens to evacuate border regions more than a year ago, it allowed thousands of migrant farmworkers to stay put. At least six — five Thai, one Indian — have been killed in cross-border attacks in the north this year.

Insurgents’ stunning march across Syria accelerated Saturday with news that they had reached the gates of the capital and that government forces had abandoned the central city of Homs. The government was forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country.

The last time Syrian President Bashar Assad was in serious trouble was 10 years ago, at the height of the country’s civil war. Now insurgents have captured Syria’s largest city Aleppo, the key city of Hama and a string of other towns, and the Syrian leader appears to be largely on his own.

The mother of Austin Tice, an American journalist missing in Syria for more than a decade, said Friday that she was confident her son was alive, citing information she said had come from a “significant source” that she did not identify but said had been vetted by the U.S. government and treated as credible.

Iran stands poised to “quite dramatically” increase its stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium as it has started cascades of advanced centrifuges, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned Friday.

U.S. troops fighting Iranian-backed militias and a resurgence of the Islamic State in eastern Syria face an uncertain path forward as insurgents hundreds of miles away in Damascus remake the balance of power in the Middle East.

Thousands of people fled the central Syrian city of Homs, the country’s third largest, as insurgents seized two towns on the outskirts Friday, positioning themselves for an assault on a potentially major prize in their march against President Bashar Assad.

Three U.S. service members are being evaluated for possible traumatic brain injuries after rockets and mortars were fired in the direction of American troops in Syria, the Pentagon said Thursday.

A Hamas official said Thursday that international mediators have resumed negotiating with the militant group and Israel over a ceasefire in Gaza, and that he was hopeful a deal to end the 14-month war was within reach.

Jill Biden used a tour of the United Arab Emirates’ capital Thursday to praise efforts to fight cancer and call for more attention on women’s health issues as part of her final solo foreign tour as first lady.

The Syrian army has withdrawn from the central city of Hama after insurgents broke through its defenses, the military said Thursday.

Amnesty International accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip during its war with Hamas, saying it has sought to deliberately destroy Palestinians by mounting deadly attacks, demolishing vital infrastructure and preventing the delivery of food, medicine and other aid.

State television identified the pilots as Col. Hamid Reza Ranjbar and Col. Manouchehr Pirzadeh, saying they were on a test flight after the plane was overhauled. The crash took place near the town of Firouzabad, some 480 miles south of the capital Tehran.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports but had no immediate comment.

The leader of Syria’s most powerful insurgent group toured the seized city of Aleppo on Wednesday in a surprise visit — the first since the group captured large parts of the city over the weekend as fierce fighting intensifies in the government-led counter-offensive in northern Hama.

American forces on Tuesday morning attacked and destroyed several weapons including rocket launchers and a tank operating near a U.S.-led coalition base in eastern Syria, the Pentagon said.

An Israeli court on Tuesday ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take the stand next week in his long-running corruption trial, ending a series of delays.