Syrian rebels hit back in Aleppo

BEIRUT • Syrian rebels, including Islamists, began a counter-attack against the army and its allies yesterday, aiming to break a weeks-long siege on eastern Aleppo, insurgents said.

The assault, employing heavy shelling and suicide car bombs, was mainly focused on the city's western edge by rebels based outside Aleppo.

REUTERS

Swifts fly non-stop for 10 months: Study

MIAMI • A small, dark-feathered bird known as the common swift flies for 10 months on end without ever landing, the longest time spent aloft of any known bird, scientists said on Thursday.

The findings in United States journal Current Biology confirmed a 46-year-old hypothesis that these birds spend most of their lives in the air.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Oregon armed protesters acquitted

PORTLAND• • Armed anti-government protesters were acquitted on Thursday of federal conspiracy and weapons charges stemming from the takeover of a federally owned wildlife sanctuary in Oregon last winter.

The acquittals of all seven were a blow to government prosecutors, who had argued the protesters used force and threats of violence to occupy the reserve. But the jury appeared swayed by the defendants' contention that they were protesting against government overreach and posed no threat to the public.

NYTIMES