REUTERS - The Syrian rebel group Jaish al-Islam denied reports on Friday it would leave Douma near Damascus, after Russia said it had reached an agreement by which insurgents would leave the town.

AFP - A new group of Syrian rebels and civilians prepared to leave Eastern Ghouta on Monday after the largest exodus yet from the opposition enclave, as talks stalled over the final pocket of resistance.

AFP - Syrian regime air strikes and artillery fire hit the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta for a sixth straight day Friday as the world struggled to reach a deal to stop the carnage.

More than 400 civilians have been killed in one of the seven-year Syrian conflict's bloodiest episodes and rescuers were finding more bodies buried in the rubble.

REUTERS - Syrian government warplanes conducted air strikes against rebel-held eastern Ghouta on Thursday, killing 21 people and injuring 125 more, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitoring group, reported.