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And now we go to Syria, where troops and tanks are on the move against protesters. Human rights activists say 14 civilians have been killed in the area around the city of Homs, north of Damascus, as troops and tanks close in.

A rights group says at least three civilians are dead after security forces entered the town of Talbiseh in central Syria on Monday to crush dissent against President Bashar al-Assad.

The deaths bring to 14 the number of civilians killed in the area around the city of Homs, north of Damascus, since Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Assad's military clampdown on the protests has drawn condemnation and sanctions from the United States and European Union.

Rights groups say one thousand civilians have been killed and ten thousand arrested in the crackdown.

Syria blames the violence on armed groups, Islamists and foreign agitators, saying more than 120 police and soldiers have been killed in the unrest.

Witness reports of violence in Syria are difficult to verify independently because the government barred most international media from the country not long after the start of the unrest in March.

The demonstrations began with calls for political freedom and an end to corruption and are now urging the removal of Assad.

The president has responded to the demonstrations by intensifying the military crackdown.