Damascus (Syria)

A suicide bomb attack on a central Damascus mosque has killed 42 people, including Syria's most prominent pro-regime Sunni cleric, wounding dozens of others, the health ministry said.

Two people were killed and 18 more wounded in renewed violence in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Thursday, a security source told AFP.

The United States has found no evidence to support a Syrian government allegation that opposition rebels used chemical weapons in an attack this week, a US official said Thursday.

One man was killed and five others wounded in two separate exchanges of fire in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Thursday, a security source said.

A suicide bomber targeted a mosque in central Damascus on Thursday, killing a senior pro-regime Sunni cleric and at least 14 other people, Syrian state media and a watchdog reported.

The United Nations will investigate whether chemical weapons have been used in the Syria conflict, UN leader Ban Ki-Moon announced Thursday.

A suicide bomber targeted a mosque in central Damascus on Thursday, killing a senior pro-regime Sunni cleric, Syrian television reported, with a watchdog saying at least 15 people were killed.

Syrian rebels have gained ground in the Golan Heights, which is partly occupied by Israel, launching coordinated attacks in the area and in nearby Daraa province, a watchdog said on Thursday.

Syrian rebels have gained ground in the Golan Heights, which is partly occupied by Israel, launching coordinated attacks in the area and in nearby Daraa province, a watchdog said on Thursday.

Britain, France and the United States called Wednesday for a United Nations inquiry into accusations by the Syrian government and the opposition of chemical weapons attacks.

US President Barack Obama on Wednesday warned the Damascus regime it would be held accountable for any use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria in a move which would spark an international response.

Regime forces shelled areas in the south of Damascus on Wednesday, including the Yarmuk camp, while warplanes bombed areas in the north and centre of the country, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Syria's regime and rebels on Wednesday called for international investigations into an attack a day earlier in which each side accuses the other of having used chemical weapons.

The US and UN were attempting to verify claims and counterclaims by Syrian troops and insurgents that chemical weapons were used for the first time in the two-year conflict.

Troops and insurgents Tuesday accused each other of using chemical weapons for the first time in Syria's two-year conflict, as the newly elected rebel premier ruled out dialogue with the regime.

The United States said Tuesday it had seen "no evidence" that Syrian rebels have used chemical weapons and warned it would be "totally unacceptable" for the regime in Damascus to use such arms.

Syria's government on Tuesday accused rebel forces of using chemical weapons for the first time, but the opposition denied the claim, saying instead that government forces might have used banned weapons.

Syria's government on Tuesday accused rebel forces of using chemical weapons, with state media saying "terrorists" had fired "rockets containing chemical materials" in Aleppo province, killing 15 people.

Ghassan Hitto, who was elected on Monday to serve as the first prime minister of Syria's opposition, is a business executive with Islamist leanings who has lived in the United States for decades.

Syria's opposition coalition met in Istanbul to choose its first prime minister on Monday, as Syrian warplanes bombed northern Lebanon for the first time in what Washington labelled "a significant escalation" of the conflict.