Regime forces launched a major assault on rebel-held areas of Homs, which they have been trying to regain for a year. Saudi Arabia is thought to have recently speeded up shipments of heavy weapons to the rebels. A German aid group announced that three of its employees were kidnapped over six weeks ago in northwest Idlib near the Turkish border and are still missing. The regime’s deputy minister for the economy said Syria is doing its business in Russian, Chinese, and Iranian currency.
