Rebels launched an offensive in Damascus in late June after a bombing at security headquarters killed 4 top regime officials (including Assad's brother-in-law) and reportedly seriously injured Assad's younger brother Maher. The bombing was a regime decapitation strike probably carried out by a foreign intelligence service.

The offensive fizzled. The rebels have withdrawn and are now pinned down in the suburbs. Basically, Damascus is still in the hands of the Syrian government.

Then, in July, the rebels launched a major offensive in Syria's largest city and commercial capital Aleppo. It's been somewhat bogged down and there are reports that it has turned the civilians against the FSA (main opposition group). However, the opposition is still fighting on in parts of Aleppo and they've had some very successful operations in the countryside. They've managed to take and hold numerous border crossings on the Iraqi & Turkish borders.

The Syrian military has escalated the conflict by using its Air Force & helicopters to attack rebels as they attempt to advance. The problem is there is no such thing as a Syrian smart bomb, so they are often hitting civilian targets. The flow of refugees has greatly increased. Both sides are committing atrocities and the rebels are getting better armed everyday. Also, there are many reports of Islamists from Libya, Yemen, Iraq, and Europe joining the fight. The rebels have kidnapped Iranian pilgrims (Republican Guard) in the country and both Qatar and KSA are deeply involved with the rebels.

Upshot - It's a cl*sterf*ck.

Also, it won't end in Damascus. There is talk that the Alawites will create a mini-state along coast (Latakia) and the Kurds in the Northwest are probably going to attempt to build a semi-autonomous state (like Iraqi-Kurdistan). Also, the conflict is destabilizing Lebanon and could very likely lead to a genocide of one of the largest remaining Christian communities in the ME. What have I left out.... Oh - Qatar is paying Syrian government officials big $$$ to defect. Not as many takers as you might expect. Today it was the attaché to Serbia.... The Prime Minister was a big defection a couple of weeks ago.
Guardian's live streaming coverage is pretty good especially if you wade through the comments. I also check the angry arab's blog daily....