Israel's military has deployed a rocket defense system to the north of the country following reported Israeli airstrikes in Syria targeting weapons believed to be destined for Hizbullah.

The military said it moved two Iron Dome batteries Sunday as part of "ongoing situational assessments."

Iran is ready to help "train" the Syrian army if Damascus seeks such assistance, the commander of the Islamic republic's army ground forces, General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, was quoted as saying on Sunday.

"As a Muslim nation, we back Syria, and if there is need for training we will provide them with the training, but won't have any active involvement in the operations," he said in remarks reported by the official IRNA news agency.

Israeli warplanes struck areas in and around the Syrian capital Sunday, setting off a series of explosions as they targeted a shipment of highly accurate, Iranian-made guided missiles believed to be on their way to Hizbullah, officials and activists said.

The attack, the second in three days, signaled a sharp escalation of Israel's involvement in Syria's bloody civil war. Syria's state media reported that Israeli missiles struck a military and scientific research center near the Syrian capital and caused casualties.

The United States said Saturday it was "appalled" by reports Syrian troops killed more than 100 people, executing entire families, in the coastal village of Bayda this week.

"We strongly condemn atrocities against the civilian population and reinforce our solidarity with the Syrian people," State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said in a statement.

Julian Draxler scored late for Schalke to win 1-0 at Borussia Moenchengladbach and consolidate fourth place in the Bundesliga on Friday.

The 19-year-old German international struck with eight minutes remaining after receiving a pass from Raffael that went through the legs of a defender to seal Schalke's first win in Moenchengladbach since 2006.

Former Chelsea and Portugal playmaker Deco is facing a 30-day automatic suspension after his "B'' sample confirmed a positive test for a diuretic.

Deco tested positive for furosemide, a diuretic which can help hide performance-enhancing substances. The test came after Fluminense's 2-0 win over Boavista on March 30.

Barnes & Noble is teaming up with Google to vastly increase the number of apps available on its Nook HD tablets.

The bookstore chain says it will add Google's Play app store to its 7-inch (177.8-millimeter) Nook HD and 9-inch HD+ products in the U.S. and U.K. via a software update Friday. The move expands the number of apps available from the roughly 10,000 the Nook already offered in its own store — such as Angry Birds and Netflix — to 700,000-plus apps and games offered on Google Play. And it comes after a weak holiday sales season for the Nook, which is struggling to gain market share in the rapidly expanding tablet market.

Grammy-winning singer Usher believes his dancing skills will help him in his upcoming role as Sugar Ray Leonard in "Hands of Stone," a new boxing film about the great brawler Roberto Duran.

Usher said he has been preparing to play Leonard — a fighter with fast hands, smooth feet and a wide smile — for more than a year and still needs to lose nearly 25 pounds (11 kilograms) before shooting begins in October.

Exiled Chinese author Yu Jie joined other writers including Salman Rushdie on the 20th observance of World Press Freedom Day in appealing to China to live up to its own constitution and laws guaranteeing freedom of expression, and calling on the public to put pressure on governments that crack down on writers.

Yu and other writers and activists were on a PEN International panel Friday highlighting a report on trends of the last five years in China's crackdown on free expression. It also marked the 20th anniversary of the U.N. General Assembly's designation of May 3 as World Press Freedom Day.

An Israeli airstrike against Syria was targeting a shipment of advanced missiles bound for Hizbullah in Lebanon, Israeli officials confirmed Saturday.

It was the second Israeli strike this year against Syria and the latest salvo in its long-running effort to disrupt Hizbullah's quest to build an arsenal capable of defending against Israel's air force and spreading destruction inside the Jewish state.