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tacks, noting that they sometimes operate "in concert" with government forces.
• The killings in a collection of villages called Houla near the central Syrian city of Homs last week have drawn fresh attention to the Syrian conflict, in part because of the brutality of the massacre. Activists posted amateur videos online showing shells exploding in the village, dismembered bodies lying in the streets, then rows of dozens of dead laid out before being buried in a mass grave.
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• JERUSALEM (AP) -- A Russian-based internet security firm says a powerful spyware virus with unprecedented data-snatching capabilities has attacked computers in Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East.

• Iran has not disclosed any damage done by the virus. But a unit of the Iranian communications and information technology ministry said it produced an anti-virus capable of identifying and removing the new malware, dubbed "Flame."
• The virus' origin has not been identified, but suspicion immediately fell on Israel, famous for its technological innovation and its tireless campaign against Iran's suspect nuclear program.
• Russian digital security provider Kaspersky Lab, which identified the virus, said in a release posted on its website late

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