BBC News Middle East 1 December 2012 Last updated at 10:34 ET

Helicopters and MiG warplanes could be heard overhead, reportedly bombarding rebel-held areas

Internet services around Damascus have resumed after a two-day blackout, as violence intensifies.

While Syria's capital seemed to be back online, it was not clear how much internet access there was elsewhere.

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Gazzetta del Sud - 11/30/12

Pompeii, November 30 - A stone wall collapsed at the Pompeii archaeological site on Friday, probably due to the wave of bad weather that is currently battering Italy. The wall was in an area of the site that had been sealed off from the public for work to make it safe.

The collapse involved roughly two cubic meters of the wall, which was part of the Regio VI archeological area uncovered in the 19th century.

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The newest version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes an amendment that would legalize the use of propaganda on the American public, reports Michael Hastings of BuzzFeed.

The amendment — proposed by Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) and Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and passed in the House last Friday afternoon — would effectively nullify the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, which explicitly forbids information and psychological operations aimed at influencing U.S. public opinion.

Thornberry said that the current law “ties the hands of America’s diplomatic officials, military, and others by inhibiting our ability to effectively communicate in a credible way,” according to Buzzfeed.

The vote came two days after a federal judged ruled that a counter-terrorism provision in the annual defense bill was unconstitutional.