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NEWS ABOUT: Arab protests

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Clinton Calls Out Russia on Syria

'Their policy is going to help contribute to a civil war'

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton didn't mince words today when it came to Russia's persistent backing of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria. The Russians "keep telling me they don't want to see a civil war," Clinton told youth leaders in Denmark today, according to Voice of America... More »

UN: 80% of Houla Victims Were Executed

US, other countries kick out Syrian diplomats, envoys

(Newser) - If you thought the details coming out of Houla couldn't get any worse, brace yourself: The UN today reported that more than 80% of the 108 dead were executed. Less than 20 were killed by artillery fire, according to a rep for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,... More »

UN Security Council Condemns Syria Massacre

Security Council scrambles to react to Houla massacre

(Newser) - The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting today and condemned Syria's killing of more than 100 people, including 34 children, in brutal attacks last week, the BBC reports. The head of the UN's observer mission in Syria briefed the council via video link, saying 108 people... More »

Syria: We Weren't Behind Houla Massacre

Regime denies responsibility in shelling that killed 90 Friday

(AP) - Syria's foreign ministry spokesman has denied government troops were behind an attack on a string of villages that left more than 90 people dead. Friday's assault on Houla , an area northwest of the central city of Homs, was one of the bloodiest single events in Syria's 15-month-old... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

UN: Syria Ceasefire in Place by April 12

Syrian troops have reportedly started withdrawing

(Newser) - Fierce clashes continue to erupt in Syria, even as the UN's deadline for a ceasefire looms a week from today. Kofi Annan's peace plan requires Syrian troops to withdraw from towns and cities by April 10 , and the UN expects both sides to stop fighting within two days... More »

Kofi Annan: Syria OKs Peace Deal

Tells Chinese that Assad has agreed to 6-point UN plan

(Newser) - Syria has agreed to a six-point peace deal that will implement a cease-fire in the bloody conflict that has claimed an estimated 8,000 lives in the past year, UN envoy Kofi Annan said today. In Beijing today, Annan told reporters that "I had received a response from the... More »

Medvedev: Annan Syria's 'Last Chance'

Russia backs UN envoy as only way to avoid war

(Newser) - Russian President Dmitri Medvedev today got definitively behind Kofi Annan's mission to end the yearlong violence in Syria, reports Reuters , calling it the " last chance for Syria to avoid a long-lasting and bloody civil war." Medvedev met with Annan, the UN envoy to Syria today in Moscow,... More »

Car Bomb Rocks Syria; Casualties Reported

Blast hits northern city of Aleppo ahead of uprising's 1-year mark

(AP) - Syria's state news agency says a car bomb has gone off between two residential buildings in the northern city of Aleppo. The report today by SANA gave no information on casualties or damage, but called it a "terrorist bombing." Opposition sources tell the BBC that there were... More »

Russia: We Won't Stop Arming Assad

Assad's forces capture Free Syrian Army stronghold of Idlib

(Newser) - Russia has rejected calls to stop arming and training Bashar al-Assad's regime, despite evidence that its weapons are being used against civilians. "Russia enjoys good and strong military technical co-operation with Syria, and we see no reason today to reconsider it," Russia's deputy defense minister said... More »

Syria Studding Refugee Routes With Mines

Human Rights Watch cites eyewitness near Turkey, Lebanon

(Newser) - Earlier reports accused Syria of planting landmines along its Lebanese border, and according to witnesses, the practice shows no sign of waning. Mines are being placed along the routes refugees typically use to flee into neighboring Lebanon and Turkey, Human Rights Watch said today, citing eyewitness reports. One former... More »

Intervening in Syria Riskier Than Libya: US Officials

Military intervention would likely require long, dangerous mission

(Newser) - Using the US military to intervene in Syria would be much more complicated and dangerous than the military intervention in Libya was, senior Pentagon officials say. President Obama asked the Pentagon for preliminary military options following increasing pressure from Republicans including John McCain , the New York Times notes. However, the... More »

Kofi Annan 'Optimistic' After Meeting Syria's Assad

But no peace deal yet

(Newser) - Kofi Annan left a second round of talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad today without a deal to stop the bloodshed, but "optimistic for several reasons," the UN-Arab League envoy tells al-Jazeera . "It's going to be tough. It's going to be difficult but we have... More »

Syria's Deputy Oil Minister Defects, Joins Rebels

Abdo Hussameddin slams 'barbaric' Assad regime

(Newser) - A top Syrian official has decided to abandon Bashar al-Assad's "criminal regime" and join the uprising. Deputy oil minister Abdo Hussameddin is the highest-ranking civilian to defect since the rebellion began a year ago, reports the BBC . "I am joining the revolution of the people who reject... More »

Sam LaHood Talks 'de Facto Detention' in Egypt

Gives first TV interview since returning to US

(Newser) - Sam LaHood today discussed his "de facto detention" in Egypt, in his first TV interview since returning to the US Thursday, Politico reports. LaHood, who had been barred from leaving Egypt along with 42 other NGO employees, says their attorney compared the circumstances "to a hostage situation."... More »

Syria Launches Ground Assault to 'Clean' Baba Amr

Western journalists trapped inside city

(Newser) - Syrian ground troops advanced on Homs today, indicating that the regime was about to launch a ground assault to take the restive city. One Syrian official told the AP that the rebel-held Baba Amr neighborhood would be "cleaned" in a matter of hours. Three western journalists are still trapped... More »

Syria: 89% Approved New Constitution

West not convinced, though much of opposition may have boycotted

(Newser) - Syria's new constitution was backed by more than 89% of voters, the nation's Interior Ministry announced today, even as violence continues to rage across the country and the West decries the referendum as a sham . The Interior Ministry claims that more than 57% of Syria's 14 million... More »

As Syria Votes, West Decries 'Sham'

Hillary Clinton calls on Syrians to oust Bashar al-Assad

(Newser) - Syria is deciding today on a referendum on a new constitution, with embattled President Bashar al-Assad leading the voting on his central effort to placate those who've sought his ouster for nearly a year now. Assad's detractors, however, were unconvinced, reports the AP , with many in the West... More »

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