Syrian President Bashar Assad is now using most of his regular ground forces in an intensified drive to crush the uprising against his family's four-decade-long rule in what could be a critical test of his minority-run military's cohesion, according to U.S. officials and experts. » read more

Egypt's highest court said Wednesday that a verdict in deposed President Hosni Mubarak's murder trial won't be issued until June, presumably to prevent any disruption to presidential elections now scheduled for May. » read more