More than 500 civilians have been killed in a "world record" 2,000 air strikes across Syria by regime forces over the past 40 days, a monitoring group said Friday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the regime could be "listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for... carrying out some 2,000 air strikes against its people in the past 40 days".

Syrian rebels backed by the United States are making their biggest gains yet south of the capital Damascus, capturing a string of towns from government forces and aiming to carve out a swath of territory leading to the doorstep of President Bashar Assad's seat of power

The advances appear to be a rare visible success story from efforts by the U.S. and its allies to train and arm moderate rebel fighters.

European Union Ambassador to Lebanon Angelina Eichhorst expected on Friday positive talks between Prime Minister Tammam Salam and European officials next week, stressing that the Lebanese state has the right to manage the Syrian refugees crisis as it wills.

She described the visit as the “first-of-its-kind” as Salam will be the first PM to meet with the new EU representatives.

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour, who has been soothing the relatives of the abducted soldiers and policemen, has been negotiating with the Islamic State group the release of the captives who are in its custody.

According to al-Akhbar newspaper published on Friday, Abou Faour is contacting the group via a mediator from the northeastern border town of Arsal after the IS refused to talk with the Qatari-appointed negotiator, Syrian Ahmed al-Khatib.

From the Islamic State jihadist group's black banner to colorful depictions of revered Shiite figures, the Kurds' golden sun and the official tricolor, a "war of flags" rages in Iraq.

Banners mark control of territory and identify units as they have for thousands of years, but in Iraq they also show the sharp religious and ethnic divisions among combatants, including some on the same side.

Canadian national broadcaster CBC said Thursday hackers had briefly compromised its website in an attack claimed by supporters of Syria's President Bashar Assad.

Several other media websites said they were also affected, including Britain's Independent and Telegraph newspapers.

Once proud shop owners in Aleppo's picturesque old city market, the merchants of Syria's former economic capital now live off a pittance selling goods on pavements and stalls.

After a major rebel offensive on Aleppo in July 2012, the city's historic souk fell prey to a war that has killed more than 195,000 Syrians and forced nearly half the population to flee.

The Syrian regime and key ally Russia have agreed to support a U.N. proposal to suspend fighting in the battered northern city of Aleppo, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said.

Muallem's remarks, reported by state news agency SANA, followed a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and a Syrian government delegation in Sochi, Russia on Wednesday.

Denmark paid unemployment benefits to 28 people while they were waging war for the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, the Danish intelligence service was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Out of the 28 Danish people identified by the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) as having received benefits, 15 had been ordered to pay the money back, eight people were still being investigated, and five cases had been dropped due to insufficient evidence, tabloid BT reported.

Iraqi forces held off a jihadist assault on the government headquarters in the capital of Anbar province, deploying reinforcements in the key battleground against the Islamic State group, officers said Thursday.

Security forces, backed by tribesmen, managed to defend the complex in Ramadi, which lies 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of the Iraqi capital and is one of the last major urban areas in Anbar under Baghdad's control.