Meanwhile in Syria

Fighting continues around Hama, with the rebels attempting to surround the town rather than directly assault it,

Background to the rapid fall of Aleppo to the rebels. And more here, emphasizing the years of careful organizing and planning. 

Troops from the Syrian army's 25th Division, supposed to be one of their tougher units, just surrendered a base full of tanks and other gear with hardly a fight. People are starting to wonder if much of the army has effectively gone over to the other side.

Mass surrender of regime troops at al Safira. And the rebels call on the rest of the government army to surrender, saying the battle is already over.

Among the hundreds of military vehicles the rebels have captured are multiple Smerch rocket launchers with a range of 120 km, which means all of Russia's air and naval bases in Syria are within rebel range. Assuming they can find someone who can operate them, but I suspect Ukraine would be happy to lend them a couple of techs. And we do know that Ukraine has ties of some kind with the rebels, since Kyiv sometimes reports on battlefield events before anybody else. In related news, all the Russian warships have left port in Syria for "exercises."

Learning from the old US playbook, Kurdish forces announce they are advancing into regime-controlled territory to fight terrorism.