Assad eyes crushing win in Syria vote

Syrians in government-held areas voted Tuesday in presidential election in which incumbent Bashar al-Assad is looking to boost his grip but which the exiled opposition has slammed as a "farce".
Assad is facing two little-known challengers and is expected to win a crushing victory despite the three-year-old civil war which the United Nations has warned is likely to drag on even longer as a result of the election.
There was no voting in the roughly 60 percent of the country outside the control of Assad's government, which includes large areas of second city Aleppo.
But polling was held in the heart of third city Homs, in ruins after rebel forces pulled out early last month following a devastating two-year siege in a boost for the president whose family has held power in Syria for more than 40 years, according to AFP.