Three Killed As Army Enters Central Syrian Town

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

AMMAN

(Reuters) - At least three civilians were killed on Monday when security forces entered the town of Talbiseh in central Syria to crush dissent against President Bashar al-Assad, a rights group said.

The deaths brought to 14 the number of civilians killed in the area around the city of Homs, north of Damascus, since troops and tanks surrounded towns and villages in the region on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Malaysia Aid Ship Ends Sea Attempt To Gaza

KUALA LUMPUR - A Malaysian aid ship attempting to land in Gaza after being warned off by Israeli naval forces last week has been forced to abort its mission after engine trouble, activists said.

Matthias Chang, who is heading the mission for the Perdana Global Peace Foundation, told AFP on Monday that the MV Finch was now stuck six nautical miles from Egypt's El-Arish port.

"At about 5:30pm local time (0330 GMT), our vessel developed engine trouble and we lost our steering capability, so we had to stop our attempt to reach Gaza by sea," he said.