Syria’s top leaders amassed one of the world’s largest stockpiles of chemical weapons with help from the Soviet Union and Iran, as well as Western European suppliers and even a handful of American companies, according to American diplomatic cables and declassified intelligence records....

 The White House is making a big push to rally members of Congress and the American public behind President Barack Obama's plan for a U.S. military strike against Syria. His administration says the government of Syrian President Bassar Assad used chemical weapons in an attack last month...

It is predicted that the Syrian intelligence has been trying to identify members of opposition and in particular members of the Syrian National Council and to estimate their properties and wealth in Syria. That has been confirmed by the document directed from the Head of the Office...

Syrian rebels, including jihadists, have taken control of the historic Christian town of Maalula, north of Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog and a resident said on Sunday. "Overnight, Syrian regime troops moved into the village, but rebel forces sent reinforcements...