Syrian state media: Islamists take Christian town, monastery

Islamist fighters in Syria have taken over the ancient quarter of the Christian town of Maaloula and are holding several nuns in a monastery there, state news agency SANA said on Monday.

Fighting for the town, about five km (three miles) from the main road linking Damascus to Homs, is part of a wider struggle between rebel fighters and President Bashar Assad's forces for control of the strategic central Syrian highway. (Reuters)