NYT | Turkish officials said Sunday that they had arrested nine people accused of carrying out twin bombings in this town near the Syrian border the day before, as the investigation moved at a clip that underscored the intense pressure on the government to contain the fallout from the attacks. Officials said the detainees were all Turkish citizens and asserted that the group had been backed by the intelligence services of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.

Examiner | Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera has gone public stating his sources have verified that the now destroyed and abandoned U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya was actually a way station for American weapons to be shipped to Syrian rebels, as reported by The Blaze via Google News on 10 May, 2013. Almost simultaneously, Senator Rand Paul is alleging the current administration may be shipping arms illegally to Syria, as reported by RT.com (of Moscow, Russia) on 10 May, 2013.

NYT | Near Damascus, Hezbollah fighters are defending the shrine of Sayida Zeinab, revered by Shiite Muslims, from encroaching Sunni rebels. To the north, they are not just part of a Syrian government drive to take back the strategic town of Qusair, rebels say, they are leading it. On Tuesday, Syrian opposition activists reported that rebels had killed 15 Hezbollah fighters in Qusair. But they also said the rebels were besieged in the town and in danger of losing it, after black-clad Hezbollah fighters swept them from surrounding villages.

Telegraph | A battle near a factory believed to be one of the Syrian regime's main chemical weapons plants shows just how close such weapons could be to falling into al-Qaeda's hands, writes Colin Freeman. Set amid the rolling plains outside Aleppo, the town of al-Safira looks just like another vicious battleground in Syria's civil war. On one side are lightly-armed rebels, on the other are government troops, and in between is a hotly-contested no-man's land of bombed-out homes and burned-out military vehicles.

AP | The US readied a package Saturday of up to $130m in non-lethal military aid to Syrian opposition forces while European countries consider easing an arms embargo, moves that could further pressure the government of President Bashar al-Assad. US secretary of state John Kerry was expected to announce the plans about the defensive military supplies at a meeting Saturday that was bringing together the Syrian opposition leadership and their main international allies.

Wired | The Syrian military used an exotic chemical weapon on rebels during an attack in the city of Homs, some U.S. officials now believe.The conclusion — first reported by Foreign Policy’s Josh Rogin and laid out in a secret cable from the U.S. consul general in Istanbul — contradicts preliminary estimates made by American officials in the hours after the December 23 strike. But after interviews with Syrian activists, doctors, and defectors, American diplomats in Turkey have apparently rendered a different verdict. It’s important to note, however, that this was the conclusion of a single consulate within the State Department, and there is still wide disagreement within the U.S. government over whether the Homs attack should be characterized as a chemical weapons incident.

Press TV  | New videos have surfaced online showing foreign-sponsored militants committing more terrorist acts in Syria.One of the videos, posted on the internet recently, shows heavily armed men shooting down a civilian airliner in the city of Dayr al-Zawr in eastern Syria.

Infowars.com | A shocking video shows Obama-backed Syrian rebels attempting to shoot down a civilian airliner over the Idlib province in another disturbing example of how taxpayer money is being used to support terrorists. he footage shows members of the “Free Syrian Army” (FSA) manning an anti-aircraft gun and debating whether or not they should target what is clearly a non-military plane.

Infowars.com | Following the arrival of the USS Eisenhower in the Mediterranean sea just outside Syria, reports are now circulating that other NATO forces are firmly in place to launch an “imminent” Libya-style military assault to topple President Bashar Al-Assad.

Infowars.com | A shocking report by McClatchy Newspapers’ David Enders reveals that the militants now on the front lines of the rebel uprising in Syria – supported by the Obama administration and other western powers – are Al-Qaeda terrorists who killed U.S. troops in Iraq and openly espouse their desire to “fight the U.S.” after they topple Bashar Al-Assad.

McClatchy | When the group Jabhat al Nusra first claimed responsibility for car and suicide bombings in Damascus that killed dozens last January, many of Syria’s revolutionaries claimed that the organization was a creation of the Syrian government, designed to discredit those who opposed the regime of President Bashar Assad and to hide the regime’s own brutal tactics. Nearly a year later, however, Jabhat al Nusra, which U.S. officials believe has links to al Qaida, has become essential to the frontline operations of the rebels fighting to topple Assad.

Reuters & AP | United Nations refugee agency cites new figures by Syrian Arab Red Crescent, cautioning new data is 'conservative estimate.' The Syrian Arab Red Crescent estimates that 2.5 million people are internally displaced within Syria by civil war, doubling the previous figure of 1.2 million used by aid agencies, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday.

FARS | The Turkish government asked Yemen to set up a military base for training Syrian terrorists and rebels, sources close to the Ankara government revealed on Wednesday. According to a report by Barakish news website, the demand was raised by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during his recent visit to Yemen.

Truth Alliance | Haaretz quotes Sec. Clinton while she was attending APEC that convened in Russia a day ago threatening Russia with increased support for the al-Qaeda mercenary fighters. A day after Russia soundly rejected her call for UN sanctions to be imposed on Syria if Assad refuses to stop fighting and relinquish power, Clinton said she was "realistic" in her approach. She said that if the Russians refused to go along the United States and its friends would boost their support for the Syrian opposition.