अमेरिकाको क्यालिफोर्नियामा चिकित्सकहरुले एक ‘अपत्यारिलो’ शल्यक्रिया सम्पन्न गरेका छन् । चिकित्सकहरुले पहिलो पटक आमाको गर्भमै रहेको शिशुको सफल शल्यक्रिया गरेका हुन् ।
चिकित्सकहरुले एक ‘अंगुर’मा परीक्षण पश्चात २५ साताको एक भ्रूण शिशुको शल्यक्रिया गरेर उक्त क्षेत्रमा एक नयाँ रेकर्ड बनाएका हुन् । बेलायती समाचार एजेन्सी ‘डेली मेल’का अनुसार चिकित्सकहरुले ११ सेन्टिमिटर लघु सुई, तार र बेलुनको मद्दतले उक्त भ्रूणको मुटुको शल्यक्रिया गरेका हुन् ।
शिशु पूर्ण रुपमा विकसित नभएको र शिशुको मुटु ‘ओखर’को आकारमा भएको अवस्थामा उक्त शल्यक्रिया निकै मुस्किल भएको चिकित्सकहरुले बताएका छन् । उनीहरुले उक्त शल्यक्रिया गर्न कयौं चुनौति समेत आइपरेको बताएका छन् ।समाचारका अनुसार उक्त शिशुको मुटुको एक ‘भल्ब’ एकदमै कम विकासित अवस्थामा थियो । जुन एक दुर्लभ रोगको सुरुवाती अवस्था भएको जनाइएको छ । सोही करण चिकित्सकले आमाको गर्भमै उक्त रोग निर्मुल गर्ने निर्णय गरेका थिए ।यो खबर hamrakura.com मा प्रकाशित छ |
चिकित्सकहरुले एक ‘अंगुर’मा परीक्षण पश्चात २५ साताको एक भ्रूण शिशुको शल्यक्रिया गरेर उक्त क्षेत्रमा एक नयाँ रेकर्ड बनाएका हुन् । बेलायती समाचार एजेन्सी ‘डेली मेल’का अनुसार चिकित्सकहरुले ११ सेन्टिमिटर लघु सुई, तार र बेलुनको मद्दतले उक्त भ्रूणको मुटुको शल्यक्रिया गरेका हुन् ।शिशु पूर्ण रुपमा विकसित नभएको र शिशुको मुटु ‘ओखर’को आकारमा भएको अवस्थामा उक्त शल्यक्रिया निकै मुस्किल भएको चिकित्सकहरुले बताएका छन् । उनीहरुले उक्त शल्यक्रिया गर्न कयौं चुनौति समेत आइपरेको बताएका छन् ।समाचारका अनुसार उक्त शिशुको मुटुको एक ‘भल्ब’ एकदमै कम विकासित अवस्थामा थियो । जुन एक दुर्लभ रोगको सुरुवाती अवस्था भएको जनाइएको छ । सोही करण चिकित्सकले आमाको गर्भमै उक्त रोग निर्मुल गर्ने निर्णय गरेका थिए ।यो खबर hamrakura.com मा प्रकाशित छ |
दिल्लीमा एक किशोरीको सामूहिक बलात्कारपछि हत्या भएको एक महिना पनि
नपुग्दै त्यस्तै खालको अर्को घटनामा संलग्न ६ जनालाई प्रहरीले पक्राउ गरेको
छ । पञ्जाब राज्यको अमृतसर नजिकै २९ बर्षीया महिलालाई सामूहिक बलात्कारको
आरोपमा पञ्जाब प्रहरीले ६ जना पक्राउ गरेको हो ।
अमृतसर नजिकैको गाउँमा ओर्लिन खोजेकी ती महिलालाई चालक र कन्डक्टरले गाडी
नरोकी एकान्तस्थल पुर्याएका थिए । उनीहरुले थप ५ जना साथी बोलाएर रातभर
बलात्कार गरेको आरोप महिलाले लगाएकी छन् । संलग्न भनिएको अर्का एक जना
फारार छन् ।
डिसेम्बर १६ मा दिल्लीमा सामूहिक बलात्कारकी शिकार बनेकी २३ बर्षीय छात्राको उपचारको क्रममा ज्यान गएको थियो ।
अमृतसर नजिकैको गाउँमा ओर्लिन खोजेकी ती महिलालाई चालक र कन्डक्टरले गाडी
नरोकी एकान्तस्थल पुर्याएका थिए । उनीहरुले थप ५ जना साथी बोलाएर रातभर
बलात्कार गरेको आरोप महिलाले लगाएकी छन् । संलग्न भनिएको अर्का एक जना
फारार छन् ।डिसेम्बर १६ मा दिल्लीमा सामूहिक बलात्कारकी शिकार बनेकी २३ बर्षीय छात्राको उपचारको क्रममा ज्यान गएको थियो ।
http://nagariknews.com
दिल्लीमा सामूहिक बलात्कारको शिकार भएकी २३ वर्षीया छात्राको शनिबार बिहान सिंगापुरको अस्पतालमा निधन भएको छ । उनलाई थप उपचारका लागि दिल्लीबाट बिहीबार सिंगापुरको माउन्ट एलिजावेथ अस्पताल पुर्याइएको थियो ।
प्रधानमन्त्री मनमोहन सिंहले बलात्कृत छात्राको निधनप्रति दुःख व्यक्त गरेका छन् । उनले सबैलाई संयम अपनाउन अनुरोध गर्दै उनको निधनलाई बेकार नजान दिने प्रतिवद्धता व्यक्त गरेका छन् ।
चीनले विश्वकै सबैभन्दा लामो तिव्र गतिको रेलमार्ग औपचारिक रुपमा सन्चालनमा ल्याएको छ ।
भारतको मुम्बई उच्च अदालतले सूर्यास्तपछि र सूर्योदय अघि कुनै पनि महिलालाई गिरफ्तार नगर्न या हिरासतमा नराख्न प्रहरीलाई आदेश दिएको छ । सूर्यास्त पछि गैरकानूनी ढंगले गिरफ्तार गरी हिरासतमा राखिएको भन्दै एक महिलाले दायर गरेको रिटमा सुनुवाई गर्दै अदालतले यस्तो आदेश दिएको हो । अदालतले आदेश तत्काल कार्यान्वयनका लागि महाराष्ट्रका सबै प्रहरी चौकीमा निर्देशन दिन र एक हप्ता भित्र यससम्बन्धी आचार संहिता तयार गरी गर्न पनि आदेश दिएको छ ।
A powerful typhoon that killed at least 10 people in South Korea hit the North early Wednesday, knocking down hundreds of trees, destroying power cables and causing blackouts in a country already struggling to rebuild from earlier flooding.Big rainstorms often mean catastrophe in North Korea because of poor drainage, deforestation and decrepit infrastructure, but the extent of wind and rain damage in the country wasn't immediately clear Wednesday. Pyongyang, the capital, saw strong winds but little apparent damage. Cars splashed through slightly flooded streets, spraying people on crowded sidewalks.Typhoon Bolaven began pummeling the North late Tuesday, on the country's first Youth Day since new leader Kim Jong Un took over in December. Weather officials had warned that it would be the strongest typhoon to hit the region in several years, but its gusts in other parts of Asia weren't as powerful as predicted.
In South Korea, Bolaven left hundreds of thousands without power, canceled flights and temporarily halted joint war games by U.S. and South Korean military forces. The storm also churned up rough seas that smashed two fishing ships into rocks off southern Jeju island, killing five people and leaving 10 missing.Dangerous waves kept rescue vessels from approaching the wrecked Chinese fishing ships. The coast guard used a special gun to shoot rope to one ship so officers could pull themselves over and bring the fishermen back to shore, coast guard spokesman Ko Chang-keon said.
The coast guard rescued 12 fishermen, and six others swam or were washed ashore.The storm killed at least five other people across South Korea. A large container box crushed an apartment janitor to death, a woman fell to her death from a rooftop and another person died after bricks hit a house, according to disaster and fire officials. An 80-year-old man died after a small makeshift building fell on him, officials said, and another man was killed by a falling tree.The storm came as North Korea tries to help people with food, shelter, health care and clean water after heavy flooding in July, according to a recent United Nations situation report. More than 170 died nationwide, and tens of thousands of homes were destroyed in the floods, according to official North Korean accounts.
ekantipur.com
A NATO airstrike in eastern Afghanistantargeting a group of insurgents near the Pakistani border killed at least 12 militants Friday, the international military coalition said.
Pakistani intelligence and Afghan officials said Mullah Dadullah, the self-proclaimed leader of the Pakistani Taliban in Pakistan's Bajur tribal area was killed, although they offered conflicting reports on the exact location of the strike. NATO could not confirm that a senior militant had been killed.
Conflicting reports out of the rugged and remote regions along the Afghan-Pakistan border are common shortly after an attack.Kunar provincial official Aslam Gul Mujahid said the airstrike killed 20 people, including Dadullah. Pakistani intelligence officials said Dadullah and 19 others were killed, but they said the airstrike took place in Pakistan's Bajur region, just across the border from Kunar.
The Pakistani intelligence officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, said the strike occurred after a cross-border attack by Pakistani Taliban militants who came from Afghanistan.Two Pakistani militiamen also were killed, local tribesmen said on condition of anonymity out of fear for their safety.
The Pakistani intelligence officials said the militiamen and army soldiers fought the militants for hours but eventually repelled the attack.Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan claimed responsibility for the attack on the outpost in a telephone call to The Associated Press.
It was unclear whether Pakistani and coalition officials coordinated the strike or whether NATO fired on the militants after noticing activity on the border.Pakistan has criticized Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces for not doing enough to stop cross-border attacks by Taliban militantsagainst targets inside Pakistan.Also in the east, authorities said Friday that insurgents kidnapped three Afghan soldiers and another man from a bus in eastern Afghanistan and killed all four.
US President Barack Obama on Wednesday called Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to offer condolences over the shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, in which six people, including several Indian nationals, were killed.white House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama paid tribute in the call to the contribution of the Sikh community in the United States and that the two leaders spoke of their shared commitment to tolerance and religious freedom.the killings occurred during Sunday services when Wade Michael Page, a singer in a neo-Nazi punk band, burst into a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin and opened fired on worshippers with a 9mm handgun."the president held a phone call, a conversation with the prime minister of India. The president expressed his condolences to the prime minister because as you know, several of the victims of the shooting in Wisconsin were Indian nationals," Carney said.the two leaders spoke about their shared commitment to tolerance and religious freedom," he added.Obama placed the call from his presidential aircraft as he flew from Washington to Colorado at the beginning of a two-day campaign trip.the FBI said earlier Wednesday that Page, 40, killed himself with a gunshot to the head Sunday after being shot in the stomach by a police officer called to the scene.
The top Islamic official in Russia's largely Muslim Tatarstan region was wounded in a bomb attack and a deputy was killed in a separate shooting on Thursday, rocking a province long seen as a showcase of religious tolerance in Russia.President Vladimir Putin called for unity and condemned the attacks, which were carried out hours before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins in Russia at sundown on Thursday."Law enforcement bodies are doing everything to find, expose and punish the criminals," Putin said.Tatarstan's mufti, Ildis Faizov, was hospitalized after three powerful blasts targeted his car. He said he was able to get out of the SUV after the first explosion before more blasts sent flames roaring above the vehicle."I felt a first weak explosion in the front part of the car and immediately crawled out of the automobile," said Faizov, who was shown on state television in a hospital bed, according to a statement on the Tatarstan authorities' website.Reuters television footage showed the vehicle engulfed in the blaze and billowing smoke on a wide avenue in central Kazan, a popular destination for tourists from Moscow, about 735 km (450 miles) east of Russia's capital.Around the same time, deputy mufti Valiulla Yakupov was shot dead outside his home, the Investigative Committee said.Russia's Investigative Committee called the car bomb blasts a "terrorist act".
The motives were unknown and no suspects were named, but the seemingly coordinated attacks evoked the deadly violence that is far more frequent in the mainly Muslim regions of Russia's North Caucasus.Militants fighting to carve an Islamic state from the North Caucasus along Russia's southern flank sometimes target mainstream Muslim leaders backed by the authorities.Leaders of the insurgency in the North Caucasus have issued appeals to Muslims in other regions of the predominantly Orthodox Christian country, where Muslims are a minority of about 15 percent, to join their fight.But oil-producing Tatarstan, which enjoys a higher degree of autonomy from Moscow than other regions and is home to a majority ethnic Tatar population, is relatively peaceful.There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attacks.Faizov had been criticized over a scandal around the distribution of rights to make the holy pilgrimage to Mecca. Yaroslav Nilov, chairman of a parliamentary religious bodies committee, said Faizov had taken increasing control over the haj, according to Interfax news agency.
The explosion killed the miners on Sunday morning at the mine in Lianyuan city, though 39 others escaped, the official Xinhua news agency said, quoting the local government.
The latest accident came as rescuers in another part of the same province were racing to save a dozen coal miners still missing nearly four days after their mine flooded, state media said.
Rescue workers pulled four miners out of the coal mine in Leiyang city on Sunday, but 12 remained unaccounted for, state television said.
Rescue of the remaining miners had been complicated since water levels were at head height in parts of the mine, it said.Water rushed into the mine on Wednesday evening, trapping 16 miners underground as 24 others managed to escape, Xinhua said.
The accident was not reported to the government until the following day, delaying rescue efforts by 12 hours, it said, adding that the mine's owner, Liu Yaping, was now in police custody.
The local government could not be reached for comment.
Accidents in China's mines occur frequently.
However, tighter safety standards appear to have been effective according to the latest official figures, which say 1,973 people died in coal mining accidents in 2011, down 19 percent on the previous year.
Labour rights groups say the actual death toll is likely much higher, partly due to under-reporting of accidents as mine bosses seek to limit their economic losses and avoid punishment.
China's Foreign Ministry said it would continue to take "necessary
measures" to safeguard its sovereignty over a number of disputed islands
in the East China Sea after Japan said it was considering a plan to
"buy" them from private landowners.
The uninhabited islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, have long been the centre of maritime territorial disputes between China and its neighbors, all of which cite historical and other claims over fishing areas and potentially rich gas deposits.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Saturday that the government was considering buying the islands, situated in potentially gas rich territory claimed by both Japan and China, in a move likely to anger Beijing.
"No one will ever be permitted to buy and sell China's sacred territory," Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said in a statement issued late on Saturday on the ministry's website, www.mfa.gov.cn.
"China will continue to take necessary measures to firmly uphold its sovereignty over the Diaoyu island and its affiliated islands,"
Liu reiterated the islands had been part of Chinese territory since ancient times and China's sovereignty over them was grounded in an indisputable historical and legal basis.
Earlier this year, Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara proposed using public funds to buy the islands from private owners, prompting Beijing to denounce the plan as illegal and reassert its sovereignty.
Diplomatic ties between Beijing and Tokyo hit a low point in 2010 after Japan's arrest of a Chinese fishing boat captain.
The uninhabited islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, have long been the centre of maritime territorial disputes between China and its neighbors, all of which cite historical and other claims over fishing areas and potentially rich gas deposits.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Saturday that the government was considering buying the islands, situated in potentially gas rich territory claimed by both Japan and China, in a move likely to anger Beijing.
"No one will ever be permitted to buy and sell China's sacred territory," Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said in a statement issued late on Saturday on the ministry's website, www.mfa.gov.cn.
"China will continue to take necessary measures to firmly uphold its sovereignty over the Diaoyu island and its affiliated islands,"
Liu reiterated the islands had been part of Chinese territory since ancient times and China's sovereignty over them was grounded in an indisputable historical and legal basis.
Earlier this year, Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara proposed using public funds to buy the islands from private owners, prompting Beijing to denounce the plan as illegal and reassert its sovereignty.
Diplomatic ties between Beijing and Tokyo hit a low point in 2010 after Japan's arrest of a Chinese fishing boat captain.
The United States is set to call for tough new UN sanctions against
President Bashar al-Assad and his inner circle, as over 100 Western and
Arab nations meet Friday in Paris for "Friends of Syria" talks.
But despite the more than 16,500 people estimated killed in the
16-month uprising against Assad's regime, key Syria allies Russia and
China -- which both hold UN veto rights -- are not attending despite
reports of changing attitudes in Moscow.
The Paris meeting follows a gathering in Tunis and another in Istanbul, both of which called in vain for tougher action against Assad's government.
China did not attend either of those meetings, in which the United States, France, Britain, Germany and Arab nations Saudi Arabia and Qatar led a group of more than 60 members, including most EU states and many Arab League nations.
The United States will lead calls at the Paris talks for a tough new UN sanctions regime to be imposed on Assad and his inner circle, Washington officials said Thursday.
Speaking as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flew to Paris for the Friends of Syria meeting, one official said it was time "to put this all together under a Security Council resolution that increases the pressure on Assad, including having real consequences" such as economic sanctions.
"We, and we believe most of the countries represented in Paris, think that has to include Chapter 7 economic sanctions on Assad," the official said aboard Clinton's plane and asking to remain anonymous, referring to a clause within the UN charter.
But despite the more than 16,500 people estimated killed in the
16-month uprising against Assad's regime, key Syria allies Russia and
China -- which both hold UN veto rights -- are not attending despite
reports of changing attitudes in Moscow.The Paris meeting follows a gathering in Tunis and another in Istanbul, both of which called in vain for tougher action against Assad's government.
China did not attend either of those meetings, in which the United States, France, Britain, Germany and Arab nations Saudi Arabia and Qatar led a group of more than 60 members, including most EU states and many Arab League nations.
The United States will lead calls at the Paris talks for a tough new UN sanctions regime to be imposed on Assad and his inner circle, Washington officials said Thursday.
Speaking as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flew to Paris for the Friends of Syria meeting, one official said it was time "to put this all together under a Security Council resolution that increases the pressure on Assad, including having real consequences" such as economic sanctions.
"We, and we believe most of the countries represented in Paris, think that has to include Chapter 7 economic sanctions on Assad," the official said aboard Clinton's plane and asking to remain anonymous, referring to a clause within the UN charter.
A suspected gas explosion reduced a house to smoking rubble, killed a 2-year-old boy and left a man seriously burned in northwest England on Tuesday, police and rescue workers said.
Police were not linking the explosion to terrorism, but said they were treating the child's death as "suspicious."
Superintendent Neil Evans said detectives were looking into reports of a domestic disturbance in the area the night before the explosion.
Fire service spokesman Dean Nankivell said firefighters were looking at a variety of possible causes for the blast, but "gas is definitely a strong contender."
The National Grid utilities company said residents had complained of a smell of gas before the blast.
The explosion left a pile of rubble
where the row house had stood in the town of Oldham, 160 miles (260
kilometers) northwest of London, and damaged two other houses beyond
repair.
Greater Manchester Police said the injured man was taken to a nearby hospital with serious burns. He was in serious but stable condition Tuesday.
Firefighters searched the rubble amid fears more people could be trapped, but found no one.
The National Grid said five houses were damaged and 100 homes evacuated after the blast.
The Islamists' self-assurance was contested by the other candidate in the run-off race, a former general who was prime minister when Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year by an army anxious to save itself from the revolution in the streets.
But there was still no result from the two-day poll, although independent officials privately spoke of a likely win for Islamist Mohamed Morsy over military man Ahmed Shafik.
Yet whatever the outcome - and one electoral supervisor said it might not be announced until Thursday - the new president was shorn in advance of much of his power by a decree issued by the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) just as polling stations closed and two days after it had dissolved a new, Islamist-led parliament.
In protest, the liberal urban youth movements which were in the vanguard of protests at Cairo's Tahrir Square 16 months ago, as well as the Brotherhood and other supporters of the uprising, plan a major demonstration there later on Tuesday.
"This decree just makes plain the hegemony of SCAF," said Khaled Ali, a liberal lawyer eliminated in the first round of voting. "This decree strips the president of the powers he was elected to have and gives those to the military council."
The constitutional declaration, one more twist in Egypt's halting progress toward democracy since the Arab Spring, effectively means that a July 1 deadline promised for a handover to civilian rule has been reduced to semantics, since the new civilian president looks to be very close to powerless.
Liberals and Islamists called it a "military coup".
U.S. "DEEPLY CONCERNED"
U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed
on Monday that the violence in Syria must stop but gave no sign of
agreeing on how to do it even as Syrian security forces pounded
opposition areas across the country.
Intense artillery fire was reported in Douma, a town 15 km (9 miles)
outside the Syrian capital Damascus that for weeks has been under the
partial control of rebels who have joined the 15-month-old revolt
against President Bashar al-Assad.
At least 79 people were killed in violence that has escalated since international observers suspended their mission, activists said.
A Russian naval source said Moscow was preparing to send marines to Syria in the event it needed to protect personnel and remove equipment from its naval facility in Syria's Mediterranean port of Tartous, according to the Interfax news agency.
Russia is one of the Syrian government's staunchest backers.
International efforts to halt the violence are deadlocked because Russia and China, which wield vetoes in the U.N. Security Council, have blocked tougher action against Assad. They say the solution must come through political dialogue, an approach most of the Syrian opposition rejects.
Obama and Putin held two hours of talks - longer than originally planned - at a Group of 20 summit in Mexico after a week of Cold War-style recriminations between U.S. and Russian diplomats over Syria. Putin frowned and Obama wore a sober expression during remarks to reporters after the meeting.
"We agreed that we need to see a cessation of the violence, that a political process has to be created to prevent civil war," Obama told reporters.
"From my point of view, we have found many common points on this issue" of Syria, Putin said, adding the two sides would continue discussions.
Obama said they pledged to "work with other international actors," including U.N./Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, to find a resolution.
At least 79 people were killed in violence that has escalated since international observers suspended their mission, activists said.
A Russian naval source said Moscow was preparing to send marines to Syria in the event it needed to protect personnel and remove equipment from its naval facility in Syria's Mediterranean port of Tartous, according to the Interfax news agency.
Russia is one of the Syrian government's staunchest backers.
International efforts to halt the violence are deadlocked because Russia and China, which wield vetoes in the U.N. Security Council, have blocked tougher action against Assad. They say the solution must come through political dialogue, an approach most of the Syrian opposition rejects.
Obama and Putin held two hours of talks - longer than originally planned - at a Group of 20 summit in Mexico after a week of Cold War-style recriminations between U.S. and Russian diplomats over Syria. Putin frowned and Obama wore a sober expression during remarks to reporters after the meeting.
"We agreed that we need to see a cessation of the violence, that a political process has to be created to prevent civil war," Obama told reporters.
"From my point of view, we have found many common points on this issue" of Syria, Putin said, adding the two sides would continue discussions.
Obama said they pledged to "work with other international actors," including U.N./Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, to find a resolution.
U.N. monitors said Syrian helicopters fired on rebel strongholds north of Homs
on Monday and called for "immediate and unfettered access" to conflict
zones where they had heard many women and children were trapped.
International mediator Kofi Annan also said he was gravely concerned about violence in Homs and in Haffeh, a mainly Sunni Muslim town near the Mediterranean coast, where the U.S. State Department said it feared a "potential massacre".
The U.N. observers, tasked with monitoring Annan's April ceasefire deal which failed to stem the violence in Syria, have instead been cataloguing mass killings, bombings and clashes in which many hundreds of Syrians have died.
The outside world, divided in its approach towards President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on a 15-month-old uprising, has been unable to halt the violence despite broad international support for Annan's tattered peace plan.
"UN observers reported heavy fighting in Rastan and Talbiseh, north of (Homs), with artillery and mortar shelling, as well as firing from helicopters, machine guns and smaller arms," U.N. spokeswoman Sausan Ghosheh said in a statement.
It was the first time the U.N. monitors have verified repeated allegations by activists that Assad's forces have fired from helicopters in the military crackdown on rebels. Syria's government is the only force in the conflict equipped with helicopters.
The observers "also received reports of a large number of civilians, including women and children trapped inside (Homs) and are trying to mediate their evacuation," Ghosheh said.
U.N. observers reported Free Syrian Army rebels captured army soldiers, she added, calling on "all sides to stop the killing and human rights abuses to ensure the protection of civilians and to respect international law."
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 63 civilians were killed across Syria on Monday, nearly half of them in the northern province of Idlib. Twenty-one soldiers and security forces were killed, most of them in rebel bomb attacks, it said.
In the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, 10 people were killed when a car bomb detonated in the Jura district, the British-based Observatory said, but activists said more than 16 people were killed and dozens more wounded.
Syria's state news agency reported military funerals on Monday for 26 people "targeted by armed terrorist groups as they carried out their national duty".
A spokesman for Annan said he was gravely concerned by the latest reports of violence and "the escalation of fighting by both government and opposition forces".
HOMS SHELLING
Annan expressed particular concern at recent shelling in Homs, where activists said on Sunday government forces killed 35 people in one of the biggest bombardments since his ceasefire deal was supposed to come into effect on April 12.
"(Annan) is particularly worried about the recent shelling in Homs as well as reports of the use of mortars, helicopters and tanks in the town of Haffeh," his spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said in a statement.
"There are indications that a large number of civilians are trapped in these towns," Fawzi said, adding that Annan "demands that the parties take all steps to ensure that civilians are not harmed, and further demands that entry of the U.N. military observers be allowed to the town of Haffeh immediately."
Last week activists said government forces surrounded Haffeh, close to the heartland of Assad's Alawite minority, after rebel fighters seized control of a police station and destroyed five tanks and armored vehicles.
The U.S. State Department said Syrian attacks would have consequences.
"The international community can and does learn what units were responsible for crimes against humanity and you will be held responsible for your actions," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said as activists reported tanks were again surrounding Haffeh.
Activists say Syria's army and pro-Assad militia have committed two massacres in the last two weeks, in the Houla region and a farming hamlet called Mazraat al-Qubeir. Syrian authorities blamed the killings on "terrorists".
The United Nations says Syrian forces have killed more than 10,000 people in the crackdown on an uprising inspired by revolts which toppled four Arab leaders last year. Syrian authorities say foreign-backed militants have killed 2,600 soldiers and police.
Rebels have grown increasingly well-armed in recent weeks, both through increased smuggling of weapons and through defections of soldiers who bring their weapons with them.
On Sunday rebels briefly seized control of a strategic army base and threatened to fire its surface-to-air missiles at Assad's palace, before being forced to withdraw by an army counter-attack.
The violence has divided world powers, with Russia and China blocking two draft U.N. resolutions which could have led to international action against Assad's government.
Russia called on Monday for Iranian involvement in efforts to end the conflict in Syria, putting it at odds with the United States, and said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will travel to Tehran on Wednesday to discuss the initiative.
"Without Iranian participation, the opportunity for constructive international influence on the Syrian issue will not be utilized in full measure," the Foreign Ministry said.
Russia, which is resisting Western and Gulf Arab pressure to take a tougher stance toward Assad, says a proposed conference would lend support to Annan's peace plan.
The United States says it does not believe Iran, Assad's strongest regional ally, is ready to play a constructive role in Syria. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last week it was "hard to imagine inviting a country that is stage-managing the Assad regime's assault on its people."
The U.N. observers, tasked with monitoring Annan's April ceasefire deal which failed to stem the violence in Syria, have instead been cataloguing mass killings, bombings and clashes in which many hundreds of Syrians have died.
The outside world, divided in its approach towards President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on a 15-month-old uprising, has been unable to halt the violence despite broad international support for Annan's tattered peace plan.
"UN observers reported heavy fighting in Rastan and Talbiseh, north of (Homs), with artillery and mortar shelling, as well as firing from helicopters, machine guns and smaller arms," U.N. spokeswoman Sausan Ghosheh said in a statement.
It was the first time the U.N. monitors have verified repeated allegations by activists that Assad's forces have fired from helicopters in the military crackdown on rebels. Syria's government is the only force in the conflict equipped with helicopters.
The observers "also received reports of a large number of civilians, including women and children trapped inside (Homs) and are trying to mediate their evacuation," Ghosheh said.
U.N. observers reported Free Syrian Army rebels captured army soldiers, she added, calling on "all sides to stop the killing and human rights abuses to ensure the protection of civilians and to respect international law."
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 63 civilians were killed across Syria on Monday, nearly half of them in the northern province of Idlib. Twenty-one soldiers and security forces were killed, most of them in rebel bomb attacks, it said.
In the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, 10 people were killed when a car bomb detonated in the Jura district, the British-based Observatory said, but activists said more than 16 people were killed and dozens more wounded.
Syria's state news agency reported military funerals on Monday for 26 people "targeted by armed terrorist groups as they carried out their national duty".
A spokesman for Annan said he was gravely concerned by the latest reports of violence and "the escalation of fighting by both government and opposition forces".
HOMS SHELLING
Annan expressed particular concern at recent shelling in Homs, where activists said on Sunday government forces killed 35 people in one of the biggest bombardments since his ceasefire deal was supposed to come into effect on April 12.
"(Annan) is particularly worried about the recent shelling in Homs as well as reports of the use of mortars, helicopters and tanks in the town of Haffeh," his spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said in a statement.
"There are indications that a large number of civilians are trapped in these towns," Fawzi said, adding that Annan "demands that the parties take all steps to ensure that civilians are not harmed, and further demands that entry of the U.N. military observers be allowed to the town of Haffeh immediately."
Last week activists said government forces surrounded Haffeh, close to the heartland of Assad's Alawite minority, after rebel fighters seized control of a police station and destroyed five tanks and armored vehicles.
The U.S. State Department said Syrian attacks would have consequences.
"The international community can and does learn what units were responsible for crimes against humanity and you will be held responsible for your actions," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said as activists reported tanks were again surrounding Haffeh.
Activists say Syria's army and pro-Assad militia have committed two massacres in the last two weeks, in the Houla region and a farming hamlet called Mazraat al-Qubeir. Syrian authorities blamed the killings on "terrorists".
The United Nations says Syrian forces have killed more than 10,000 people in the crackdown on an uprising inspired by revolts which toppled four Arab leaders last year. Syrian authorities say foreign-backed militants have killed 2,600 soldiers and police.
Rebels have grown increasingly well-armed in recent weeks, both through increased smuggling of weapons and through defections of soldiers who bring their weapons with them.
On Sunday rebels briefly seized control of a strategic army base and threatened to fire its surface-to-air missiles at Assad's palace, before being forced to withdraw by an army counter-attack.
The violence has divided world powers, with Russia and China blocking two draft U.N. resolutions which could have led to international action against Assad's government.
Russia called on Monday for Iranian involvement in efforts to end the conflict in Syria, putting it at odds with the United States, and said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will travel to Tehran on Wednesday to discuss the initiative.
"Without Iranian participation, the opportunity for constructive international influence on the Syrian issue will not be utilized in full measure," the Foreign Ministry said.
Russia, which is resisting Western and Gulf Arab pressure to take a tougher stance toward Assad, says a proposed conference would lend support to Annan's peace plan.
The United States says it does not believe Iran, Assad's strongest regional ally, is ready to play a constructive role in Syria. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last week it was "hard to imagine inviting a country that is stage-managing the Assad regime's assault on its people."
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