DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syria said Tuesday it destroyed an Israeli vehicle that crossed the cease-fire line in the Golan Heights overnight, while the Israeli military said gunfire from Syria had hit an Israeli patrol, damaging a vehicle and prompting its troops to fire back.

The two sides appeared to be referring to the same incident.

Sporadic fire from Syria's civil war has occasionally hit the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, a strategic plateau Israel captured in the 1967 war. Israel assumes most of the incidents are accidental fire but its forces have responded on several occasions.

Tuesday's incident, however, marked the first time that the Syrian army has acknowledged firing at Israeli troops across the frontier, and appeared to be an attempt by President Bashar Assad's regime to project toughness following three Israeli airstrikes near Damascus this year.

The strikes, which targeted alleged Syrian arms shipments bound for the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group, marked a sharp escalation of Israel's involvement in the Syrian civil war.

They also raised fears that a conflict that has repeatedly spilled over Syria's borders could turn into a full-fledged regional war.

Syria vowed to retaliate and Assad said Syria is "capable of facing Israel" and would not accept violations of its sovereignty. Firing at an Israeli target seems to be in line with the tougher rhetoric that followed the airstrikes.

A statement issued Tuesday by the Syrian Armed Forces said its troops destroyed the Israeli vehicle along "with those in it."

It said Israel later fired two missiles toward one of the Syrian positions in the village of Zobaydiya village, causing no casualties.

The village is located inside the Syrian-controlled Golan and the state-run SANA news agency said rebels were operating in the area. The border zone has seen repeated breaches during Syria's two-year civil war as rebels took control over some villages near the cease-fire line.

The army statement carried by SANA said any attempt to infiltrate Syria's sovereignty will face "immediate and firm retaliation."

Earlier Tuesday, Israel's military said gunfire from Syria had hit an Israeli patrol on the Golan Heights overnight, damaging a vehicle and prompting the troops to fire back.

It said that the Israeli troops reported a "direct hit" from the return fire but provided no further details.

Related:

• On the Brink: Syria chaos looms large over Obama's Israel trip
• Analysis: Israel prepares for the worst as militants eye Syria's chemical weapons
• UN: About 20 Golan Heights peacekeepers captured by Syrian rebels

Evening Standard

London's Evening Standard newspaper reports on the tornado in Oklahoma.

Pope Francis and Britain’s queen sent messages of condolence to those affected by the deadly Oklahoma tornado Tuesday, as news of the devastation spread around the world.

"I am close to the families of all who died in the Oklahoma tornado, especially those who lost young children,” the pontiff posted on his Twitter feed. “Join me in praying for them."

The U.S. Embassy in London thanked British well-wishers for their expressions of support.

In a statement issued by Buckingham Palace officials, Queen Elizabeth said: "I was deeply saddened to hear of the loss of life and devastation caused by yesterday’s tornado in Oklahoma."

"Prince Philip joins me in offering our heartfelt condolences to the victims and their families at this difficult time. Our deepest sympathies go out to all those whose lives have been affected, as well as the American people," she added.

Canada's foreign minister John Baird said he was "shocked and saddened" at the devastation.

"Canada stands with those affected, ready to assist," he added.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the government and people of the country were “deeply saddened and shocked at the humanitarian tragedy unleashed on the Oklahoma State by a devastating tornado.”

“Our sympathies and prayers go out to the families of victims of this horrific incident that led to precious loss of life and property,” the statement said. “We are particularly grieved over the loss of innocent children and their teachers who were buried under the rubble.”

“May God Almighty give courage and strength to the bereaved families to bear this irreparable loss. The people of Pakistan stand hand in hand with the people of Oklahoma at this difficult time,” it added.

Full coverage of the Oklahoma tornadoes from NBC News

This story was originally published on Tue May 21, 2013 9:01 AM EDT

Andreas Solaro / AFP - Getty Images

Italian businessman Marcello De Finizio stands on the dome of St Peter's basilica to protest against austerity measures on May 21, 2013 at the Vatican.

A man climbed onto a ledge on the dome of St Peter's Basilica on Monday and unfurled a banner protesting against a "political horror show," an apparent reference to Italy's embattled coalition struggling with recession and high unemployment.

Identified by police as Marcello Di Finizio, the man unfurled a white banner reading "Stop this massacre!" in English, scrawled in black and red ink, with "Help us Pope Francis" in Italian.

Di Finizio, who was still on the ledge on Tuesday, has staged similar protests in the past. Last October he stayed overnight on the dome with a banner criticizing multinationals, Europe, and former Prime Minister Mario Monti. Read the full story.

Filippo Monteforte / AFP - Getty Images

Hassan Amar/AP

An Egyptian activist covers her face with the petition for "Tamarod," Arabic for "rebel," a campaign calling for 15 million signatures expressing "no confidence" in Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and calling for early presidential elections, during a protest in Tahrir Square in Cairo on May 17.

CAIRO – Once again, a handful of activists has managed to galvanize and inspire Egypt’s grumbling masses in a way no opposition political parties have been able to.

Their concept is simple. They are inviting the Egyptian electorate to sign a petition expressing “no confidence” in President Mohamed Morsi, a move they hope will trigger early presidential elections.

The response has been eye-opening. So far, 6,000 volunteers for the grassroots campaign dubbed “Tamarod” or “Rebel” have collected over 2 million signatures, according to the group’s spokesman Mahmoud Badr. Egypt’s electorate numbers about 50 million, with half of those voting in the last presidential election.

The movement has grown quickly, with opposition parties announcing support, widespread press coverage and black and white leaflets plastered across nearly every Cairo neighborhood. The “Rebel” Facebook page has attracted 150,000 “likes” in one month.

At a busy intersection in Mohandiseen, an upper-middle class Cairo neighborhood, at least 20 people stopped last Thursday to sign the leaflets and jot down national ID numbers to verify their identity.

Mohamed Muslemany / NBC News

Egyptian volunteer Basma Sherif, 24, hands out 'Rebel' petitions calling for no confidence in President Morsi and calling for early elections.

“Yesterday was even more crowded,” said Basma Sherif, as she handed out forms.

“There were accidents because people were leaving their cars in traffic to come and sign,” said Sherif, a 24-year-old insurance company employee. 

People from all walks of life and throughout Egypt are signing the petition – from upper class educated elites to truck drivers and housekeepers – even people who voted for Morsi in the last election are now taking part in the campaign.

"People come from the cars to sign – poor, rich, middle class, everybody has one opinion,” said Sherif.

Those signing the petition were anxious for change. “I don’t want Morsi,” said Khaled Mostafa, a 27-year-old lab technician.  “There is no security, no stability and their economic program failed… If we get several million signatures, we will have early elections.” 

Amal Ragab, a middle-aged human resources manager, said that the revolution that toppled Mubarak made her believe people have the power to bring down a president.  “For us, the Muslim Brotherhood is much worse and weaker than Mubarak with all of his power and security apparatus,” she added. 

The group’s goal is to collect 15 million signatures, almost 3 million more than the number of votes Morsi received when he was elected by a narrow margin in June last year. They plan to deliver the petition for early elections to the Supreme Constitutional Court, Egypt’s highest court, on June 30, the one-year anniversary of Morsi’s inauguration, and to hold a massive demonstration in front of the presidential palace that day. 

A symbolic move
But even diehard supporters admit there are no legal grounds to call for early elections based on a “no confidence” petition. They say the campaign is really meant to prove that Morsi has lost his majority and, with it, his legitimacy.   

Hamza Abdullah, a 37-year-old lawyer who has been coordinating the campaign in three Cairo districts was carrying an armload of signed petitions on Thursday. 

“This is a peaceful way to apply pressure and prove that people are against Morsi,” he said. “It is not legally binding, but it is like a poll to prove that he is not popular and not approved as president of Egypt.” 

Oliver Weiken/EPA

Protesters call for the removal of the Egyptian government in Tahrir Square in Cairo on May 17.

Not so fast, say Muslim Brotherhood 
Members of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood, however, pooh-pooh the challenge.

Dr. Mohamed Beltagy, a senior leader of the Brotherhood’s political arm, issued a statement calling the petition “no more than a public survey,” saying it was useless unless organizers “transform the millions of participants they’re talking about into a political party.” 

Others gave veiled warnings. “If some want to toss out the constitution, then they should admit their aim and bear the consequences because it is a complete and utter crime,” Essam Arian, deputy chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood, told the Al Fajr newspaper. 

A lawyer for the Brotherhood, Abdel Moneim Abdel Maksoud, said that, “Hijacking a political democratic legitimacy constitutes a violation of the law.” And one Brotherhood-linked group launched a rhyming pro-Morsi petition called Tagarod, or “Impartiality.”  

Egypt’s prime minister, which operates under the president, was more receptive.

Alaa al Hadidi, the prime minister’s spokesman, said he views the grassroots movement as a sign of growth.  “I am happy because before, nobody spoke, nobody cared, nobody was interested.  Now everybody feels that they own the country and have a stake.” 

Related links

Report: Al Qaeda-linked militants planned attack on US Embassy in Egypt

Muslim Brotherhood gains more influence in limited Egypt cabinet reshuffle

NBC News complete coverage of Egypt 

AFP / Getty Images

A September 30, 2000, file combo of TV grabs from France 2 footage taken during Israeli-Palestinian clashes in Netzarim in the Gaza Strip shows Jamal al-Dura and his son Mohammed, 12, hiding behind a barrel from Israeli-Palestinian cross fire.

TEL AVIV, Israel — It is an extraordinary image that became a global symbol of Palestinian victimhood at the hands of the Israelis: A 12-year-old old boy cowering behind his father moments before he was killed during a gunbattle in Gaza.

But a new Israeli government report out on Sunday asserts that there is no evidence that the child, Mohammed al-Dura, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers 13 years ago and "numerous indications" that he and his father Jamal were not actually hit by any bullets.

Jamal al-Dura reportedly responded to the claim on Monday by offering to exhume the child’s body from a Gaza cemetery to allow a forensic examination.

"Are they willing to do an international investigation? Is Israel willing? I'm not saying the people of Israel, I mean the government, and IDF soldiers," Jamal told Army Radio, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Indeed, the question arises: If Israel is right and Mohammed was not killed, what actually happened to him and where is the 25-year-old today?

Photo by Newsmakers

The family of 12 year-old Palestinian boy Mohammed al-Dura, center, in blue shirt, poses in an undated family photo at their home in the Gaza Strip. Mohammed's apparent death captured the world's attention.

His apparent death in Sept. 30, 2000, was first reported by television station France 2. A video showed the young Mohammed hiding behind his father, who himself was sheltering behind a barrel, as Israeli soldiers and Palestinians fought it out on a Gaza Strip street corner.

The boy, who was allegedly killed in the fighting on the second day of the second Palestinian uprising against Israel, quickly became infamous across the globe.

However an Israeli investigatory committee found that “contrary to the [France 2] report's claim that the boy is killed, the committee's review of the raw footage showed that in the final scenes, which were not broadcast by France 2, the boy is seen to be alive,” according to a statement issued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. The review was begun last year at a request of the prime minister.

“The review revealed that there is no evidence that Jamal or the boy were wounded in the manner claimed in the report, and that the footage does not depict Jamal as having been badly injured. In contrast, there are numerous indications that the two were not struck by bullets at all,” the statement said.

“The review showed that it is highly-doubtful that bullet holes in the vicinity of the two could have had their source in fire from the Israeli position, as implied in the France 2 report,” it added. “The report was edited and narrated in such a way as to create the misleading impression that it substantiated the claims made therein.”

Israel initially admitted it had killed Mohammed, an admission that on further examination was withdrawn.

It has previously accused the Palestinian cameraman who filmed the alleged death of faking it, and France 2 correspondent of being either party to the faking or of being duped.

Media organizations in France and elsewhere have also cast doubt on the Palestinian’s narrative.

It is relevant today because Israel believes it is suffering from a campaign of "delegitimization" that ultimately is a strategic threat to its existence.

Netanyahu said in the statement that the incident had “slandered Israel's reputation.” 

“This is a manifestation of the ongoing, mendacious campaign to delegitimize Israel,” he said. “There is only one way to counter lies, and that is through the truth. Only the truth can prevail over lies."

Israel’s Minister of International Affairs, Strategy and Intelligence Yuval Steinitz described the claims that Israeli troops had shot the child as “a modern-day blood libel against the State of Israel.”

The term “blood libel” is used to refer to historic allegations that certain Jewish sects murdered Christian children in order to use their blood in rituals.

In an appendix to the Israeli report, an orthopedic surgeon said injuries to Jamal al-Dura’s arm that the father claimed to be from the shootout were actually incurred years earlier when he was attacked by members of the Palestinian Hamas party.

But this reporter, who met al-Dura days after the shooting in an apartment in Amman, Jordan, was shown his bandaged arm and told that he was undergoing medical treatment in a hospital paid for by Jordan's King Hussein.

At the time, al-Dura explained that he ventured onto that street corner on the way to look at a used car, and he took his son for the fun of it. There was a shootout and in a lull in the firing they dashed across the street, only to get caught in the middle when it started again.

A day after his alleged death, this reporter also visited Mohammed’s Gaza classroom and found his desk a shrine, covered by flowers and notes and his classmates mourning him.

One reason Israel is so insistent that its case be accepted may be that a previous, iconic picture of Palestinian suffering turned out to be false.

In 1982 a photograph issued by the UPI agency showed a nurse holding a baby girl and carried a caption saying an Israeli bomb had blown off the child’s arms in South Lebanon.

The picture was reportedly placed on President Ronald Reagan’s desk as a symbol of the Palestinians plight. But Israel investigated and found that the supposedly armless baby girl was in fact a four-year-old boy with a broken arm. UPI apologized.

NBC News' Ian Johnston contributed to this report.

Related:

• Full Israel coverage from NBC News.com

• Palestinian kids swept up in wave of Israeli arrests

• Iranian-born Israeli hopes ancient music will bring 'hearts of both nations together'

BAGHDAD — More than 60 people were killed in a series of car bomb explosions targeting Shi'ite Muslims across Iraq on Monday, police and medics said, part of the worst sectarian violence since U.S. troops pulled out in December 2011. 

The attacks brought the number killed in sectarian clashes in the past week to over 200, and tensions between Shi'ites, who now lead Iraq, and minority Sunni Muslims have reached a point where some fear a return to all-out civil conflict. 

No group claimed responsibility for the bombings. Iraq is home to a number of Sunni Islamist insurgent groups, including the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq, which has previously targeted Shi'ites in a bid to provoke a wider sectarian confrontation. 

Nine people were killed in one of two car bomb explosions in Basra, a predominantly Shi'ite city 260 miles southeast of Baghdad, police and medics said. 

"I was on duty when a powerful blast shook the ground," said a police officer near the site of that attack in the Hayaniya neighborhood. 

"The blast hit a group of day laborers gathering near a sandwich kiosk," he added, describing corpses littering the ground. "One of the dead bodies was still grabbing a blood-soaked sandwich in his hand." 

Five other people were killed in a second blast inside a bus terminal in Saad Square, also in Basra, police and medics said. 

In Baghdad, at least 30 people were killed in car bomb explosions in Kamaliya, Ilaam, Diyala Bridge, al-Shurta, Shula, Zaafaraniya and Sadr City - all areas with a high concentration of Shi'ites. 

A parked car bomb also exploded in the mainly Shi'ite district of Shaab in northern Baghdad, killing 12 people and wounding 26 others, police and hospital sources said. 

In a separate incident, police said a parked car blew up near a bus carrying Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims from Iran near Balad, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, killing five Iranian pilgrims and two Iraqis who were traveling to the Shi'ite holy city of Samarra. 

CORPSES FOUND 

 In the western province of Anbar, the bodies of 14 people kidnapped on Saturday, including six policemen, were found dumped in the desert with bullet wounds to the head and chest, police and security sources said. 

When Sunni-Shi'ite bloodshed was at its height in 2006-07, Anbar was in the grip of al Qaeda's Iraqi wing, which has regained strength in recent months. 

In 2007, Anbar's Sunni tribes banded together with U.S. troops and helped subdue al Qaeda. Known as the "Sahwa" or Awakening militia, they are now on the government payroll and are often targeted by Sunni militants as punishment for co-operating with the Shi'ite-led government. 

Three Sahwa members were killed in a car bomb explosion as they collected their salaries in the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad, police said. 

Iraq's delicate intercommunal fabric is under increasing strain from the conflict in neighboring Syria, which has drawn Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims from across the region into a proxy war. 

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main regional ally is Shi'ite Iran, while the rebels fighting to overthrow him are supported by Sunni Gulf powers Saudi Arabia and Qatar. 

Iraq says it takes no sides in the conflict, but leaders in Tehran and Baghdad fear Assad's demise would make way for a hostile Sunni Islamist government in Syria, weakening Shi'ite influence in the Middle East.

The prospect of a shift in the sectarian balance of power has emboldened Iraq's Sunni minority, embittered by Shi'ite dominance since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by U.S.-led forces in 2003. 

Thousands of Sunnis began staging street protests last December against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whom they accuse of marginalizing their sect. 

A raid by the Iraqi army on a protest camp in the town of Hawija last month ignited a bout of violence that left more than 700 people dead in April, according to a U.N. count, the highest monthly toll in almost five years. 

At the height of sectarian violence in 2006-07, the monthly death toll sometimes topped 3,000.

Dudu Greenspan/AP

An Israeli woman is taken out of a bank in the town of Beersheba, southern Israel, on Monday after an attempted robbery in which at least five people were killed.

Editor's note: This story includes a correction.

TEL AVIV, Israel -- Five people died on Monday after a robber tried to hold up a bank in southern Israel and then took a woman hostage for over an hour, officials said. The robber shot himself dead as police closed in, police said.

The robber carried out the botched heist in a residential street in Beersheba at about lunchtime local time, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said on Monday. It was a branch of Bank Hapoalim, Reuters reported.

"The moment he entered the bank he started killing," Rosenfeld added on Tuesday.  

The suspect remained at the scene and took a woman hostage, officials said. The woman was freed after he shot himself dead.

Police initially said there were two robbers but later revised that to one.  The error was discovered after a man initially thought to have been one of the robbers was taken to hospital and treated for gunshot wounds, Rosenfeld said.

“Four people have been killed and the robber apparently shot himself dead. The scene is now clear," Reuters quoted regional police commander Yoram Levy as telling Israel Radio.

Israeli media reports said the four victims were three bank employees and a customer, Reuters reported.

Four civilians were injured, Rosenfeld said. 

Violent bank heists are rare in Israel. In 2011, a robber killed a security guard in a bank in the center of the country.

Reuters and NBC News' Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report.

AFP - Getty Images

Police investigators work at a blast site outside a building used by court officials in central Makhachkala, Russia, on Monday. At least eight people were killed and more than a dozen injured in twin car-bomb blasts.

MAKHACHKALA, Russia - Two car bombs killed at least two people on Monday in Dagestan, a turbulent province in Russia's North Caucasus region where armed groups are waging an Islamist insurgency. 

Car bombs, suicide bombings and firefights are common in Dagestan, at the centre of an insurgency rooted in two post-Soviet wars against separatist rebels in neighbouring Chechnya. 

Investigators initially said eight people had been killed by the successive blasts in the provincial capital Makhachkala, but law enforcement officials later put the death toll at two and said more than 20 people had been wounded.

Both explosions were near the headquarters of the court bailiffs' service and appeared to have been detonated by remote control, said the federal Investigative Committee, a Russian state agency.

Twisted wreckage of a car could be seen near the building, which was cordoned off by police.

The main suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings in the United States, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, lived in Dagestan with his family about a decade ago and visited the region last year.

The visit by Tsarnaev, who was shot dead by U.S. police after the April 15 bombings that killed three people and wounded 264 others, is being scrutinised by U.S. investigators for signs of ties with insurgents.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered law enforcement authorities to ensure insurgents do not attack the 2014 Winter Olympics next February in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, which is close to the North Caucasus.

Most of the wounded and the two dead were caught by the second of Monday's explosions, a few minutes after the first, the investigators said.

Insurgents in the North Caucasus have often sought to increase casualties by setting off an initial blast to attract law enforcement officers and then detonating a second bomb.

Dagestan, an ethnically mixed, mostly Muslim region between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea, has become the most violent province in the North Caucasus, where insurgents say they are fighting to carve out an Islamic state out of southern Russia.

At least 405 people were killed in Dagestan in violence linked to the insurgency last year, according to the Caucasian Knot website, which tracks developments in the region.

Putin launched the second war in Chechnya as prime minister in 1999 and likes to take credit for preventing the region from splitting from Russia. But his 13 years in power have been marred by deadly attacks claimed by or blamed on the insurgents.

Related: 

• Makhachkala: Dusty Russian city where Boston suspect felt he 'belonged'
• Video: Former Ambassador: We need to focus on the terrorist groups functioning in Dagestan
• Boston bombing suspects' father 'a good man,' neighbors in Dagestan say

This story was originally published on Mon May 20, 2013 9:06 AM EDT

AP Photo / E. Wayne Ross

Two video grabs show the hot-air balloon crashing near Göreme National Park in central Turkey on Monday.

ISTANBUL- A hot-air balloon flying over a tourist destination in central Turkey crashed after colliding with another balloon on Monday, the Anatolian news agency reported.

A Brazilian passenger was killed and 24 other people were injuried when the accident occurred near the city of Nevsehir in Cappadocia, an area famous for its geological features called fairy chimneys. 

Balloon rides are a popular way to see the cone-like formations, created by the erosion of volcanic ash around them.

KCNA via Reuters

As North Korea test-fired yet more missiles on Monday, its leader Kim Jong-un spent time at Pyongyang Myohyangsan Children's Camp at the foot of Mt. Myohyang.

SEOUL -- North Korea fired two short-range missiles on Monday, making six launches in three days, and condemned South Korea for criticizing what Pyongyang said were legitimate military drills.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said North Korea had fired one missile on Monday morning and a second one in the afternoon. Both were fired into the sea off North Korea's east coast, a ministry official said.

The launches come hard on the heels of more than two months of threats from North Korea that it would wage a nuclear war against South Korea and the United States if it were attacked.

The North condemned joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises that ended in late April, as a rehearsal for an attack on its territory.

Slideshow: Glimpses into the hermit kingdom of North Korea

As chief Asia photographer for the Associated Press, David Guttenfelder has had unprecedented access to communist North Korea. Here's a rare look at daily life in the secretive country.

Launch slideshow

"We are conducting intense military exercises to strengthen our defense capacity," North Korea's KCNA news agency quoted the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, the body that handles inter-Korean issues, as saying on Monday.

"Our military is conducting these exercises in order to cope with the mounting war measures from the U.S. and South Korea, which is the legitimate right of any sovereign country."

North Korea frequently fires short-range missiles, although the current spate of launches has drawn criticism from South Korea and the United States after the recent threats from the North.

Seoul on Monday condemned the launches for stoking tension in the region while Beijing, the North's sole major ally, called for restraint.

"These launches are its tactic of signaling to the world that the regime is willing to negotiate now, while at the same time saving face," Kim Yeon-su, a professor at Korea National Defense University in Seoul, which is part of the Defense Ministry, said of North Korea.

Kim said that North Korea had an arsenal of hundreds of short- and medium-range missiles.

There appears to be little prospect of talks between North Korea and the United States as Washington insists that Pyongyang needs to abandon its nuclear weapons program, something the isolated and impoverished state has said it will not do.

Related:

Pentagon: North Korea moving closer to developing nuke that can hit US

American begins 15 years of hard labor in North Korean 'special prison'

North Korea fires projectile into eastern waters

Iran’s June 14 elections will showcase the country’s political system, which, not well understood by many in the West, combines strong Islamic theocracy with elements of democracy. A network of unelected institutions controlled by the powerful supreme leader is countered by a president and parliament elected by the people.

Here's a guide to Iran's labyrinthine governmental operations and a glimpse at some of the men hoping to occupy the top elected office in the country.

According Iran's constitution, the most powerful political office in the Islamic Republic is that of the supreme leader. Since its inception after the 1979 revolution that overthrew the monarchy, two men have occupied the role – the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and his successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The supreme leader appoints the head of the judiciary, six out of 12 members of the powerful Guardian Council, the armed forces’ commanders, the head of the country’s radio and television and Friday prayer leaders, who instruct the faithful in the performance of the Friday prayer in Iran. He also confirms the president's election.

Supreme leader's website via EPA

Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Under the constitution, the president is the second-most-important authority after the supreme leader. The president – currently Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – is elected for a four-year term by popular vote, and can serve no more than two consecutive terms. After a term away he can run for president again.

The president heads the executive branch of government, and is responsible for ensuring the constitution is implemented. 

Powerful clerical councils ultimately answer to the supreme leader.  The supreme leader controls the armed forces and makes most of the decisions regarding security, defense and major foreign policy.

The president appoints and supervises ministers, coordinates government decisions, and selects government policies to be placed before the legislature, but ultimately his power is curtailed by the clerical bodies.

All presidential hopefuls have to be vetted by the Guardian Council, the most influential body in Iran. The group, which consists of six theologians appointed by the supreme leader and six jurists nominated by the judiciary and approved by parliament, also has the authority to veto any bill passed by parliament, among other legislative and judicial powers.

An indication of the power held by the clerics and the supreme leader came on Friday when the head of the Guardian Council said it may disqualify presidential candidates who supported full relations with the United States, according to The Associated Press.

The contenders 

Three different tiers of the Iranian establishment appear to be competing against each other in the current elections.  The Guardian Council will release a list of approved candidates – culled from almost 700 who registered – to the Ministry of Interior by May 21.  The following list includes those thought to be most likely to make it onto the shortlist.

EPA, AP file

Candidates for Iran's upcoming presidential election: (from left) Former Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Velayati; Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf; speaker of parliament Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel; chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.

Supreme leader’s favorites
The first camp of contenders consists of the supreme leader’s inner circle and others perceived to be loyal to him.

• Ali-Akbar Velayati, currently the supreme leader’s adviser on international affairs, served as foreign minister under several presidents.  He received a pediatrics degree from Johns Hopkins in 1974. Some observers believe that he lacks charisma when compared with others who are running.
• Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Tehran mayor, is a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War. Since he became mayor in 2005, he has embarked on a series of ambitious civic projects that added to his popularity. He may be seen as too independent by conservative clerics.
• Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel, the speaker of parliament, is very much part of the supreme leader’s inner circle – his daughter is married to the supreme leader’s son. But its not clear how much popular support he has.
• Saeed Jalili is Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator. His loyalty to the supreme leader appears unwavering. He also has had substantial dealings with the West, granting occasional interviews and interacting with international counterparts.  

Ahmadinejad’s man
President Ahmadinejad – who has been at odds with the clerical establishment shortly after the disputed elections in 2009 – has put all his political eggs in one controversial basket, the divisive Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei. The two men have been very close for the last 30 years, and Mashaei's daughter married Ahmadinejad's oldest son in 2008.  

Conservative leaders in Iran have gone so far as branding Mashaei the head of deviant current within the government, a heretic and a foreign spy. Despite a chorus of disapproval for powerful members of the establishment Ahmadinejad has stayed loyal to him.

Ebrahim Noroozi / AP

Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani waves to media as he registers his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday, May 11.

The ex-president, turned 'outsider'
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani – popularly nicknamed ‘The Shark’ because of his inability to grow a beard – is one of the great political survivors of the Islamic Republic.  

Related: Last-minute entry transforms Iranian race

Rafsanjani was the de facto commander-in-chief of the military during the Iran–Iraq War, which raged from 1980 to 1988. He was widely credited with the reconstruction of the country after the devastating conflict.  

Rafsanjani’s involvement with the revolutionary government came early and he became a cleric at the age of 14.  He was elected chairman of the Iranian parliament in 1980 and served until 1989. He is also known as a king-maker and was instrumental in the appointment of Ali Khamenei as supreme leader. 

Slideshow: Everyday life in Iran

At schools, in shops, and on the streets of big cities and small towns, daily life plays out in Iran.

Launch slideshow

Rafsanjani served as president of Iran from 1989 to 1997, and 2005 he ran for a third term in office.  He ultimately lost to Ahmadinejad in the run-off round.

Rafsanjani advocates a free-market economy and is popular with the upper-middle class, who think he may be able to revive the economy.

He fell out of favor with the supreme leader because of his tacit support of the “Green Movement” protest that shook the country and provoked a violent crackdown in 2009. 

Related:

Who's who in Iran's presidential race

Western diplomat on Iran talks: Sides still 'a long way apart'

SANA via EPA

Syrian army soldiers taking position in the Jarba area in rural Damascus, Syria, in this photo released May 13 by the official Syrian Arab News Agency.

News analysis

DAMASCUS, Syria – It's early Friday morning, a holy day in Syria's capital. But war is no respecter of dawn or devotion; dense smoke is rising from several suburbs and the birdsong is punctured by the thud of falling artillery shells.

This is Damascus today; a city filled with the noise of war. MiG warplanes swoop overhead en route to rebel targets, mortars land amid dense housing, tanks rumble through suburban streets and, now and again, suicide bombers detonate their vehicles in the hope of killing President Bashar Assad's men. 

But there is a difference in the war here today, from when I last visited four months ago.

Assad's men appear to be winning, in Damascus at least.

I walked through a suburb where the front line has been pushed back 600 yards by government troops. That may not seem much, but when every 50 yards can cost scores of men's lives, even a modest advance can be significant. 

The smoke from the shelling is further away from the city than before. Rebels are less able to launch attacks on the city center. In their stronghold of Jobar, a suburb of Damascus, which they have held for months, there are now around 200 rebels who are surrounded by government forces pounding them relentlessly.

Much of the fighting on Assad's side is now being done by the militia men of the National Defense Force. They are part time soldiers, trained and armed in 40 days. Their motivation is simple and strong: to defend their districts and to drive out rebels they see as Islamist extremists.

It's thought there are around 50,000 militia soldiers. They know their ground and are proving more adept at urban, street fighting than a regular army trained in national warfare and tank battles.    

Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad tells me "momentum is absolutely on our side…We have new tactics, new ways of dealing with armed groups. Now we know the art of fighting them."

It's a pattern repeated in many areas of Syria. In the country's third largest city, Homs, a key suburb, Wadi Sayeh, was retaken by Assad's men. In the South, rebels withdrew hundreds of men from one town because they couldn't be resupplied with ammunition from Jordan. In areas of the North, rebels are running low on arms and ammunition because some donors can't afford to keep paying for munitions two years into the war.

So is this a tipping point in the war?

No.

Does it mean Assad will win?

No.

It all depends on what you mean by winning. 

‘Winning’ by not losing
The former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once said that rebels in a guerrilla war only have to avoid losing to win. But in Syria that maxim might equally apply to the government. 

After Tunisia's leader fell in days, Egypt's in weeks, Libya's in months, the world assumed Assad would fall quickly. It's now been years. And he's still there.

He's there partly because of Russian and Iranian help. He receives a steady supply of weapons from both. 

The latest report in the New York Times suggests Russia has now given Syria advanced anti-ship cruise missiles, in order to deter the West from mounting a blockade or no-fly-zone against the country. Russia is also gathering a flotilla of warships near Syria in a show of strength and support for its ally, before next month's planned peace talks in Geneva. Russia's more conventional weapons stocks have been supplying the guns of the government for two years.

Syria's armed forces are also being bolstered by men from the Lebanese organization Hezbollah, men trained and in many cases, practiced in urban warfare. 

Ward Al-Keswani/Reuters

Free Syrian Army fighters carry their weapons while walking down a debris-filled street in the al-Ziyabiya area in Damascus on May 5.

Rebels losing propaganda war
There is an ebb and flow to most wars. At the moment the government has the flow and rebels are on the ebb. 

They are losing ground in the propaganda war, too. Several times this week they have posted brutal videos on the Internet, demonstrating their ruthlessness.

In one, an Islamist fighter, from the Jabhat al-Nusra group that is affiliated with al-Qaeda, appears to publicly execute 11 men kneeling in front of him. Before shooting each of them once in the head, he accuses the men of being soldiers responsible for a massacre. It's one of two brutal execution videos posted by the Al-Nusra group in recent days. Another,video widely circulated in Syria, appears to show a rebel fighter from Homs cutting a hole in a dead soldier’s chest, removing the heart and appearing to take a bite.  

It may be an ancient tactic of war, to dehumanize and terrify your enemy, but the rebels are making many in the outside world queasy and ready to question whether they are worthy of further support. Memories of smiling, flag waving, peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators have dimmed.

And the opposition’s lack of organization is becoming a real problem.

There is, arguably, no such thing as the Free Syrian Army. Aid organizations say they have to deal with around 300 different rebel groups, many loosely grouped under the umbrella of the FSA. Many others are rivals of the FSA, like the al-Nusra group. An “army” is usually something with a command structure and a unified organization. The FSA appears to be nothing of the kind.

As for a political opposition to Assad, the Syrian National Coalition is far from a united coalition. Politicians in the West are frustrated by the apparent inability of the “opposition” to provide a credible alternative to the Assad government.

What international ‘policy’?
All those issues have left supporters of Syria's initial revolution in a quandary.

Slideshow: Syria uprising

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A look back at the conflict that has overtaken the country.

Launch slideshow

The U.S., Britain, France and others are now seriously considering sending weapons to certain, vetted, rebel groups. But which ones? Would the apparent heart-eater's group qualify? How can Europe or America guarantee that the arms they ship will not end up in the hands of Islamists who later turn them against the West? Just remember Benghazi and the murder of a U.S. Ambassador happened in a Libyan city the West began a war to save.

The American administration seems to be indecisive in the face of a seemingly insoluble crisis, haunted by intervention in Iraq, talking about an ever thickening red line on the use of chemical weapons, but concerned about arming the wrong people a year too late. 

Britain and France are pushing for the arming of rebels, while Germany and Austria are pointing to what they see as the folly of doing so. 

Qatar and Saudi Arabia are pouring arms into Syria, money that is making the Islamists of al-Nusra the most effective fighting force on the rebel side. The Gulf States have no interest in the victory of "freedom and democracy" in Syria. As Sunni Muslim states, they want to weaken Shia-dominated nations like Syria and Iran. For many in Saudi Arabia, the advance of a Salafist-Islamist group like the black flagged Nusra Front is an added bonus.

More losers, than winners
Syria's is now more than a sectarian conflict. It's a regional conflict in microcosm, where Iran and Saudi Arabia face off, where Russia and the West arm wrestle, where Israel and Turkey spar for regional dominance and where Syrians die in the tens of thousands.

My old notebook records a death toll of 8,000. That seemed astonishingly high to me, just a year ago. Now it is ten times that and I'm no longer surprised. In fact the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K. based organization that tracks the death toll, now puts it at more than 90,000.

Syria's story today is one of massacres and executions, gruesomely recorded for history on video, of ruthless attacks by both sides, of MiG warplanes bombing men with mortars and machine guns, a chronicle of death foretold, everywhere.

President Assad may be "winning" the war now, whatever winning means. Rebels may "win" in the end by seeing him leave office. But nobody is really winning.

This is, and has been for months, an unwinnable war, deadlocked and deadly. Neither side can break through and neither side will give up. 

Today in Syria, there are only losers.

Related links: 

'Sheer savagery': Syrian rebel rips out soldier's heart, Human Rights Watch says

Syria denies blame for Turkish border bomb blast that killed at least 46

NBC News coverage of Syria