Protests spread in Syria, 3 killed in army assault

Tens of thousands of Syrians took to the streets nationwide on Friday shouting that President Bashar al-Assad should "leave", extending protests despite a military assault on restive northwestern towns, witnesses and activists said.

Ranging from suburbs of Damascus to the Lebanese border and the desert bordering Iraq, included big protests in Idlib province, where tank assaults on a collection of villages in hills near Turkey killed three civilians overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. (Reuters)