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19 Apr 2011 15:23

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World: Syrian protests cleared out by live fire, teargas

  • The dangers of nightfall in Syria: A sit-in was held in Clock Square, in the city of Homs, but come nightfall the Assad government decided it was time to clear the square. The methods employed seem to be teargas and live gunfire. Be forewarned — while the video is a bit jumpy and hard to see clearly, it’s nonetheless very unpleasant and disturbing. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Apr 2011 13:54

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World: Syria’s Assad orders detainee release; torture reports abound

  • Reports of torture coming from Syria: As the Assad government in Syria released some of the people arrested during the violent crackdown in the port city of Banias, many of the detainees accused their captors of torture. This shouldn’t come as a fantastic surprise, as Assad’s regime has been known to use tactics such as torture for a while now, but it’s yet another reminder of the basic, raw humanity that’s at stake in these political uprisings. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Apr 2011 14:29

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World: Syrian security forces reportedly killing Syrian soldiers

  • issue As we mentioned yesterday, there have been reports that members of the Syrian army have been shot and killed by the government’s own security forces, because the soldiers had refused to open fire on protesting civilians.
  • example Witnesses have told Al Jazeera and the BBC that Mourad Hejjo was one such soldier; his family and a human rights monitors say he refused to fire as the army moved into Banias, and was thus killed by security force snipers.  source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Apr 2011 14:45

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World: Hundreds protest Syrian crackdown at Damascus University

  • The scene in Syria: Hundreds of students have begun protesting, rallying around Damascus University in support of those shot and killed by Bashar al-Assad’s government in its violent response to pro-democracy protests. In past days, there have been many hectic reports of government forces firing on and killing both civilians, as well as military personnel. Al Jazeera reports that many present have said the government’s security forces fired upon the Syrian Army because the army wouldn’t open fire on civilians. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Mar 2011 12:42

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World: Woman rushes, stops Assad’s car after speech

  • Quite stunning video: Brought to you by Al Jazeera English, a video taken just following Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s defiant and surprising speech yesterday. There’s a bit to follow, here: Assad waves to the crowd, then gets into his car which begins slowly driving, flanked by personnel on all sides. A woman rushes over, brandishing what what appears to be a paper that is snatched away by one of the personnel, but this interruption causes a chaotic reaction of people surging towards the car. Then, the feed cuts out, and instead shows jarringly contrasted overhead shots of a city with jaunty music, presumably to prevent this from inflaming the citizenry. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Mar 2011 14:53

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World: Syria’s Bashar al-Assad defiant in anticipated speech

  • The oldest trick in the book: Faced with an upswell of protest against his government (during which deadly violence was turned on the citizens), Syria’s Bashar al-Assad gave a much anticipated speech. In explaining the protests against him, he resorted to a very familiar tactic for repressive heads-of-state facing public anger; blame it on a foreign conspiracy. Protesters had hoped to hear some concessions on reform, especially on Syria’s emergency powers law, which allows arrest without warrant. Sad to say, no such statement was to come from Assad, for whom the Parliament chanted “Only God, Syria, and Bashar!” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Mar 2011 20:52

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World: Syrian violence: Huge protests in Deraa, but a very bloody day

  • In the blog entry we’re linking at the end of this post, Andrew Sullivan threw up two videos from Syria. This one shows a wounded man lying on the ground, and another person taking his belt and using it as a tourniquet for his wound. While harrowing, it shows nothing particularly violent. The other clip, however, is bloody. And scary. The crowds today were very large — with some putting the numbers at around 20,000 — but the scene was also very bloody. Dozens have died this week, but the Jerusalem Post says the number could be much higher. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

23 Mar 2011 11:17

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World: Syrian protests heat up: Security forces kill six in mosque attack

  • Here’s some amateur video, parsed by Euronews, of last night’s conflict at a Omari mosque in the Syrian city of Daraa. Despite bans on protests in the country for almost 50 years, some have cropped up in the southern Syrian city in the past week. A number of protesters were inside attempting to protect themselves from Syrian security forces threatening to attack the mosque. “Brother don’t shoot,” one protester shouted inside of the mosque. “This country is big enough for me and you.” Apparently, Syria disagrees. And this is a problem.  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Nov 2009 09:54

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World: Whose ship is it anyway? Israel wants to know.

This ship is loaded with weapons, Israel claims. The arms and munitions aren’t Hezbollah’s, they’re not Iran’s, nor are they Syria’s. Whose are they? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jun 2009 21:16

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World: It was purple thumb … err, election day in Lebanon

And good news for powerful Western political types: The supported anti-Syrian, anti-Iranian party won! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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