Eyewitness: Gunfire, tear gas in Syrian city

Syrian security forces fired tear gas on thousands of protesters Monday in a restive southern city as President Bashar Assad faced down the most serious unrest of his 11 years in power with a bloody, weeklong crackdown.

Assad was expected to address the nation as early as Tuesday to try to ease the crisis by lifting a nearly 50-year state of emergency and moving to annul other harsh restrictions on civil liberties and political freedoms. (AP)