Syria

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Syrian Violence Spills Into Lebanon

Gun battles rage in Beirut

(Newser) - Don't look now, but the Syrian conflict might not be confined to Syria anymore. Gun battles broke out in Beirut today between factions supporting and opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the New York Times reports, in Lebanon's most intense outbreak of violence since the Syrian uprising began....

Obama Tells Karzai: 'We're on the Right Track'

At NATO summit, Obama supports 2014 pullout

(Newser) - President Obama met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai today at the NATO summit and urged world leaders to agree on post-2014 Afghanistan, MSNBC reports. "What this NATO summit reflects is that the world is behind strategy we've laid out," Obama said of the plan to pull out...

UN Suspects North Korea Shipped Weapons to Syria

Material going through China: UN report

(Newser) - UN officials fear North Korea may be involved in arms deals with Syria and Burma. Pyongyang "continues actively to defy" UN sanctions, says an unpublished panel report viewed by Reuters that cites "illicit sales of arms and related materiel and luxury goods." According to the report, in...

US Helping Arm Syria Rebels... But Not Actually Arming Them

Gulf nations providing cash, US providing information

(Newser) - Syrian rebels have been receiving large shipments of arms in recent weeks with the help of the US, but the Obama administration is going out of its way to stress that it's not forking over weapons or money. Instead, the Washington Post reports, Washington is coordinating efforts to arm...

Deadly Blasts Rock Damascus, Syrian Intel HQ
 Deadly Blasts 
 Rock Damascus, 
 Syrian Intel HQ 
TRUCE SHREDDED
May 10, 2012 7:38 AM CDT

Deadly Blasts Rock Damascus, Syrian Intel HQ

Officials say at least 50 dead, 370 wounded

(Newser) - At least 50 people were killed and some 370 wounded in two huge, nearly simultaneous bomb blasts in Damascus today, targeting the headquarters of the feared "Palestinian Branch" intelligence services, Syrian officials said. The bombs hit the busy al-Qazaz district, and according to an AP reporter on the scene,...

1.5M Syrians Need Food, Shelter: Red Cross

Fighting has turned local as many lack basics

(Newser) - As the crisis in Syria shows no signs of abating, the Red Cross warns that 1.5 million people lack the very essentials: food, water, shelter, power, and sanitation. Tens of thousands in the country have either moved in with other people or are living in public buildings, and about...

Syria Heads to the Polls
 Syria Heads to the Polls 
May 7, 2012 8:20 AM CDT

Syria Heads to the Polls

But opposition decries elections as sham

(Newser) - Even as violence continues in Syria despite last month’s ceasefire, voters today headed for the polls for a parliamentary election that the government insists is a sign of political reform. But the opposition calls it a sham: "All of this is a theater show,” one man tells...

Syria Uses Skype Malware to Spy on Activists: Tech Firm

Impersonators send infected files

(Newser) - The Syrian government is hacking into the computers of activists and secretly surveilling them by spreading malicious software through Skype, reports TechWeek Europe . Recently, an activist thought she was Skype-chatting with an ally, but she suddenly realized her friend was in jail and could not possibly be online. She received...

Syrian Forces Kill 4 in University Raid

Student protest met with live ammunition

(Newser) - Syrian security forces stormed student dorms at a university in the northern city of Aleppo following anti-government protests there last night, killing at least four students and wounding several others with tear gas and live ammunition, activists and opposition groups say. Around 1,500 students had been protesting in student...

20 Dead in Syria in 2 Explosions

Additional attacks reported in Damascus, as ceasefire called failure

(Newser) - Two large explosions rocked the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib, killing as many as 20 people, reports al-Jazeera . Both bombs exploded near air force intelligence and military security buildings, and most of those killed were members of security forces, although some civilians were also reported to be among the dead....

Huge Blast Kills 70 in Hama
 Huge Blast Kills 70 in Hama 
Apr 26, 2012 8:17 AM CDT

Huge Blast Kills 70 in Hama

Government, rebels have different stories for what happened

(Newser) - A massive explosion rocked Hama today, leveling buildings and, depending on who you believe, either killing at least 16 (Syrian state media's count) or up to 70, including 13 children and 15 women (the rebel count). The sides also have different stories for what caused the blast; rebels say...

Obama: Use Tech to Abuse Rebels, We'll Sanction You

Executive order fingers entities backing Iran, Syria, but could be enlarged

(Newser) - If you use technology to help a repressive regime commit human rights abuses, you'll find yourself slapped with US sanctions. That's the message from President Obama, who this morning announced a new executive order specifically targeting those backing Iran and Syria via technology, though it could be expanded...

UN to Send 300 Observers to Syria

Move comes as violence continues

(Newser) - The Security Council has unanimously approved a resolution expanding the number of UN observers in Syria from 30 to 300 and demanding an immediate halt to the violence that has been escalating since a cease-fire supposedly took effect over a week ago. The resolution approved today gives Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon...

Syrian Military Doubles Down
 Syrian Military Doubles Down 
Apr 20, 2012 6:59 AM CDT

Syrian Military Doubles Down

Reinforcements arrive, as international community looks for answers

(Newser) - Shells exploded and gunfire rang through the streets in several Syrian neighborhoods today, and security forces raided homes in Damascus, opposition groups said. Far from withdrawing, as required under the supposed ceasefire, security forces sent reinforcements, the group said. At least nine people were killed, including a child in the...

Kofi Annan Strikes UN Monitoring Deal

As UN chief blasts regime, calls for 10 times more monitors

(Newser) - Kofi Annan today touted an agreement he has reached with Syria over how to handle the UN's 30-member advance monitoring team, outlining the "tasks and responsibilities" of the government. An Annan spokesman tells the AP that he's having "similar discussions" with rebels. The team is supposed...

Syrian Ceasefire Blows Up
 Syrian Ceasefire Blows Up 
Apr 18, 2012 7:02 AM CDT

Syrian Ceasefire Blows Up

Regime uses helicopters and tanks, but says it's responding to opposition

(Newser) - Syria's tattered ceasefire appears to have basically collapsed, with activists accusing the regime of rampant and brazen violations yesterday, including sending helicopters to fire on rebels holed up in mountain villages, and shelling at least two cities, the New York Times reports. They reported death tolls as high as...

UN Monitors Arrive as Syria Shells Homs

'Ceasefire,' Syria style

(Newser) - The first UN monitors have arrived in Syria just as the promised ceasefire appears to be going up in smoke with the government's shelling of Homs. Some 25 were killed in attacks yesterday, reports the BBC . Six UN observers have arrived in Damascus. The remaining 25 are expected to...

UN Will Send Team to Watch Shaky Syrian Truce

Reports surface of renewed fighting

(Newser) - The UN Security Council agreed today to send observers to Syria to monitor the 3-day-old ceasefire, even as reports surfaced that said ceasefire isn't holding . The council agreed unanimously to send a small advance party, despite some misgivings from Russia, reports the BBC . The team is expected to leave...

On Day 3 of Ceasefire, Shelling Hits Syrian City

Activists report attacks as UN prepares to vote

(Newser) - Syrian troops and rebel gunmen carried out attacks across Syria today, killing at least nine people in a surge of violence that threatened a UN-brokered ceasefire. The bloodshed came as the Security Council considered whether to send the first wave of military observers to monitor the fragile truce. The heaviest...

1 Dead as Syria Protests Test Ceasefire

Opposition doubts government restraint, though truce seems to largely hold

(Newser) - Syria's fragile ceasefire seems to be largely holding, as renewed protests today put it to its first real test. But one Hama protester was shot dead by security forces as thousands of protesters again took to the streets, reports the BBC, while the New York Times notes that clashes...

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