Syrian activists are reporting heavy clashes between rebels and government forces around the country hours before President Bashar Assad is expected to address the nation. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says rebels fighting to topple the Assad regime have clashed with troops in the southern province of Daraa, the birthplace of the uprising in March 2011. Violence also raged in the rebellious suburbs of Damascus, with rebels trying to push through the government's heavy defences in the capital. Assad last spoke publicly in November, vowing to Russia Today TV that he would not step down. | 
