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NEWS ABOUT: Arab Spring

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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 »

Russia, China Stand in Way of New Syria Action

Russia today announces it won't back foreign military intervention

(Newser) - Turkey and Japan today joined a number of nations who have given Syrian diplomats within their borders the boot, as the head of the UN observers in Syria revealed that 13 bodies had been found with their hands tied in the country's east, reports Reuters . But the developments... 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 »

Jubilant Egyptians at Polls for Second Day

Despite months of unrest, mood remains upbeat

(Newser) - Millions of Egyptians went to the polls for a second day today, as the country votes on their first freely chosen president in history, reports the New York Times . So far, voter turnout appears lower than yesterday , but today has been made a holiday so public sector employees can vote,... More »

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.... More »

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,... 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 »

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... More »

Gutted al-Qaeda Incapable of Another 9/11: Experts

Core 'essentially gone,' but spinoff groups a concern

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda today is mostly a spent force, unable to carry out another 9/11-style attack, said US intelligence officials yesterday, reports Reuters . The mostly anonymous assessment—in a conference call led by Robert Cardillo, deputy director of US national intelligence—came one year after the killing of Osama bin Laden , with... More »

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... 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 »

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... More »

Syrians Actually Cease Fire

But opposition complains that Assad still hasn't withdrawn troops

(Newser) - Against all odds, both sides appear to be more or less honoring this morning's ceasefire deadline in Syria. Though the night saw heavy fighting, in most places the gunfire stopped by dawn. "Everywhere is quiet," a Syrian Observatory for Human Rights official tells the Washington Post. "... 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 »

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