President Bashar al-Assad called the more than two-year deadly conflict in Syria a "battle of will and resistance," in remarks published in newspapers on Thursday. "Today, all of Syria has been wounded," he was reported as saying on a visit the previous day to an educational centre in the capital. "But what is happening cannot weaken us, and the battle is one of will and resistance. If we are strong, we will be able to protect the sons of Syria," he said.

Syria's embattled President Bashar al-Assad paid an unexpected visit to an educational centre in the capital Damascus on Wednesday, the presidency said on its official Facebook page. "President Assad made a surprise visit to the Educational Centre for Fine Arts where the education ministry was honoring the families of students who were martyred as a result of terrorist acts, to honour the parents himself," the presidency wrote, alongside photos of Assad at the centre.

A Ukrainian journalist who escaped last week after five months being held captive by Syrian rebels said Monday she is planning to go back to the war-torn country despite her ordeal. Ankhar Kochneva, an Arabic speaker who publicly supports the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was working for a Russian-language television channel in Syria when she was kidnapped in early October. She told AFP she had endured grim conditions and suffered health problems while being held prisoner by Syrian rebels.

By Dominic Evans and Suleiman Al-Khalidi BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - On a cold winter's night in early 2011, some Syrian schoolboys drew a few slogans on a wall in a town the world had barely heard of. Two years on, more than 70,000 people have died in the bitter conflict that ensued, and calls for the West to give more help to the Syrian rebels are rising.