Syria

Read recent Syrian news stories and current events on Newser.com

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Assad Torturing, Killing Enemies on 'Industrial Scale'

Prosecutors base report on 55K photos taken by defector

(Newser) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime is torturing and murdering its enemies on a vast and shocking scale, according to a cache of evidence released by war crimes prosecutors, CNN reports. The report relies on thousands of photos of dead bodies that were apparently killed by strangulation, starvation, and beatings;...

Invite Could Kill Year-in-Making Syria Peace Talks

Opposition threatens to pull out

(Newser) - This week's Syria peace talks in Switzerland have been in the works for more than a year, but they're in danger of falling apart before they begin. United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has invited Iran to join the talks, sparking protests from the US and causing Syria's...

Obama: Weed Is Not 'More Dangerous Than Alcohol'

David Remnick profiles the cautious president

(Newser) - President Obama takes the long view, considers the odds in any decision, sees both sides of the story, doesn't particularly like schmoozing—ring a bell? David Remnick's New Yorker profile won't exactly change your view of the president, but it does offer a few news nuggets, like...

Kerry: Syria Opposition Must Join Peace Talks

Both sides must accept future leader, he says

(Newser) - John Kerry has urged the Syrian opposition to attend next week's peace conference in Switzerland, saying any individual chosen to lead a political transition in the war-torn country must be acceptable to both the government and opposing forces.The opposition groups, which will vote today whether to attend the...

Now European Spies Are Meeting With Assad

Opposition is concerned about cooperation

(Newser) - For the first time since Europe withdrew its ambassadors from Syria, European intelligence agencies met recently with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to discuss extremists—and the move is sparking concern among Assad's opponents. The purpose of the meetings was to share information on European jihadists who are currently working...

US, Russia Discuss Syria Ceasefires; Assad Rolls Eyes

And Syrian opposition questions whether to attend peace talks

(Newser) - The US and Russia are discussing the notion of "localized ceasefires" in Syria as peace talks loom next week in Switzerland—offering the first chance for opposing sides to sit down face-to-face, the AP reports. John Kerry, meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Paris, said ceasefires in...

FBI Thinks Americans Are Training for Terror in Syria

And it's watching them like a hawk

(Newser) - The FBI is keeping a close watch on Americans who have traveled to and returned from the war in Syria. The US believes that al-Qaeda affiliates in the war-torn country are actively attempting to recruit Americans there and train them to carry out attacks back home, senior intelligence and counterterror...

Syrian Rebels' Infighting So Bad, They Need a Judge?

Al-Qaeda leader calls for Islamic court to be set up

(Newser) - Syrian rebels are locked in a bitter and violent struggle—with each other. Hostilities between Syria's more moderate rebel factions and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and Syria exploded into open warfare on Friday, and it's been so costly that the head of another al-Qaeda affiliate, the...

UN: We've Stopped Updating Syria Death Toll

Says it can no longer verify 'source material'

(Newser) - The UN's human rights office has stopped updating the death toll from Syria's civil war, confirming today that it can no longer verify the sources of information that led to its last count of at least 100,000 in late July. A spokesman for the UN Office of...

Iraqi Troops Fight al-Qaeda, Leaving 34 Dead

In Syria, opposition fighters battle rebels linked to extremists

(Newser) - The Iraqi military tried to dislodge al-Qaeda militants in Sunni-dominated Anbar province today, unleashing airstrikes and besieging the regional capital in fighting that killed at least 34 people, officials said. A series of bombs in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, meanwhile, killed at least 20 people. The recent gains by the...

Hezbollah Gets Hands on Deadlier Missiles

Iran exploits Syria conflict to funnel weapons to militant group

(Newser) - Iran appears to be using the civil war in Syria to smuggle advanced guided missile systems to Hezbollah in Lebanon, US officials tell the Wall Street Journal . The guided missiles would be a massive upgrade over Hezbollah's current cache of "dumb" rockets, greatly improving its ability to deter...

Lebanon Fires on Syrian Planes Entering Airspace

Beirut gets tough, tries to halt violence from spilling over border

(Newser) - Lebanese forces fired on Syrian aircraft that violated the country's airspace today, the first time they have done so since Syria's uprising broke out three years ago, said security officials. The move suggests Beirut is trying to enforce greater respect for its borders in the hopes of slowing...

Syria Set to Blow Chemical Weapons Deadline: UN

Movement of materials has yet to begin

(Newser) - Syria's deadline for expelling key chemical weapons is tomorrow, but insiders say the country hasn't even started transporting the arms—and watchdogs expect a missed deadline, the New York Times reports. "At this stage, transportation of the most critical chemical material before 31 December is unlikely,"...

Volunteer Surgeon Held by Syria Is Dead

UK's Abbas Khan was due to be released this week

(Newser) - A young British doctor who traveled to Syria as a volunteer to treat civilians is dead under suspicious circumstances after more than a year in custody, reports the Daily Mail . The official story is that surgeon Abbas Khan, 32, hanged himself in his cell with his pajama bottoms, reports the...

Cairo Gets First Snow in 100+ Years

Storm brings winter to much of Middle East

(Newser) - Cairo saw a rare and wonderful sight today: Snow. Much of the Middle East has been blanketed by the white stuff in recent days thanks to a region-wide cold snap and winter storm. According to local news reports, Cairo hasn't gotten snow in more than a century, the LA ...

UN: Not One Chemical Attack in Syria—There Were 5

But report doesn't say which side used them

(Newser) - Chemical weapons were probably used in four locations in Syria this year, in addition to the confirmed attack near Damascus in August that forced the government to abandon its secret chemical stockpile, according to a report from UN inspectors. The experts examined seven alleged chemical weapons attacks and said they...

US, Britain Yank Aid to Syrian Rebels

Meanwhile, Islamists kidnap human rights lawyer, two journalists

(Newser) - The US and Britain have cut off aid to Syria's opposition, after Islamist rebel groups seized bases loaded with Western-provided goods from their former Free Syrian Army colleagues. The move won't affect humanitarian aid, a US embassy spokesman tells the BBC , but rather the "non-lethal" military assistance...

Seymour Hersh: Obama Lied About Syria

President didn't mention that jihadists may have gassed Syrians

(Newser) - President Obama lied about the chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds of Syrians in August—or at least spoke way out of school, writes Seymour Hersh in the London Review of Books . "In some instances, he omitted important intelligence, and in others he presented assumptions as facts," writes...

Pope Francis' Guest Today: Vladimir Putin

Pontiff will try to sway Russian president on Syria

(Newser) - Can Pope Francis melt the heart of Vladimir Putin? We're about to find out, as the popular new pontiff makes his first real foray into global politics today, hosting the Russian president at the Vatican. In a closed-door meeting, Francis intends to press Putin on what Russia can do...

Syria: Snipers, Death Squads Target Kids
'War on Childhood' Has
Killed 11K Kids in Syria
NEW REPORT
Nov 25, 2013 3:03 AM CST

'War on Childhood' Has Killed 11K Kids in Syria

Snipers, death squads target children as jihadists make gains

(Newser) - The horrific toll civil war is taking on the children of Syria is laid bare in the first major report to focus on the issue. At least 11,420 children, more than a tenth of the conflict's casualties, have been killed since the conflict began in March 2011, including...

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