Syria

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

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Damascus Plunged Into Darkness

Power outage strikes Syria's capital, much of nation's south

(Newser) - A power outage plunged Damascus and southern Syria into darkness today, Syria's state news agency said, while anti-regime activists reported a string of tit-for-tat, sectarian kidnappings in the country's north. The news agency, SANA, quoted Electricity Minister Imad Khamis as saying that the failure of a high voltage...

Syrian Rebels' New Cash Source: Stolen Artifacts

Fighters have become 'archeologists': rebel

(Newser) - Short on funds, Syrian rebels have been turning to a new source of income: selling snatched artifacts. "Some days we are fighters; others we are archeologists," says a rebel who counts ancient Sumerian tablets among his finds. Fighters, who control most of the top archeological areas, say a...

5K Syrians Fleeing Every Day
 5K Syrians Flee Every Day 
Feb 8, 2013 4:35 PM CST

5K Syrians Flee Every Day

It's a 'full-on crisis,' says UN official

(Newser) - The number of Syrian residents fleeing their country is rising fast, says the UN refugee agency. It puts the number at 5,000 day, bringing the total who have fled so far to nearly 800,000, reports Reuters . That's a 25% increase in January alone, reports the New York ...

54 Countries Aided CIA in Post-9/11 Interrogations

US helpers ranged from UK to Syria: report

(Newser) - The US was far from alone in its controversial counterterror practices after 9/11: More than a quarter of the world's countries helped the agency, a new report says. Some partners hosted secret interrogation prisons; some arrested suspects; others let the CIA refuel its planes at their airports, the New ...

Israeli Strike Hit Syrian Chemical Weapons Facility

Meanwhile, Iran says Israel 'will regret' attack

(Newser) - Israel's airstrike inside Syria just happens to have damaged the country's top chemical and biological research center, though it wasn't the primary target of the attack, US officials tell the New York Times . A senior military official said Israel's actual targets were trucks carrying missiles and...

Assad: Syria Can Handle 'Any Aggression'

As Ehud Barak confirms Israel was behind Wednesday's aggression

(Newser) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says his military is capable of confronting any "aggression" that targets the country. The comments by Assad are the first since an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday that US officials say was targeting a convoy of anti-aircraft weapons inside Syria bound for Hezbollah. Assad's remarks...

Syria, Iran Threaten Israel in Wake of Strike

Russia expresses concern

(Newser) - Syria today threatened to retaliate for an Israeli airstrike , and its ally Iran chimed in, too, saying there will be repercussions for the Jewish state over the attack. Syria's ambassador to Lebanon said Damascus "has the option and the capacity to surprise in retaliation." He said he...

Israeli Fighter Jets Strike Inside Syria

Reports say Israel hit a truck convoy carrying weapons to Lebanon

(Newser) - Israeli jets have struck a target inside Syria for the first time in more than five years, reports the New York Times and Reuters . Reports are conflicting on what they hit: Syria says the jets struck a scientific research center, but sources tell Reuters they hit a convoy of trucks...

65 Bodies Found With Hands Bound in Syria

Meanwhile, rebels take regime intelligence compound

(Newser) - The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is reporting what it calls a "new massacre" near Aleppo. At least 65 people have been found dead, all apparently shot in the head, and all with their arms tied behind their backs, Reuters reports. The death toll could rise as high as...

Assad&#39;s Wife Pregnant
 Assad's Wife Pregnant 
Jan 29, 2013 12:37 AM CST

Assad's Wife Pregnant

Syrian leader's wife expecting 4th child, Lebanese paper says

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad has taken time out of his schedule extinguishing thousands of lives to create a new one, at least according to a Lebanese paper sympathetic to the Syrian leader. The paper mentioned the pregnancy of Assad's wife, Asma, in an article that described the leader as confident of...

As Syria Unravels, Israel Threatens Hit on Chemical Weapons

Chemical arsenal won't be allowed to fall into Hezbollah's hands, officials warn

(Newser) - Israel has warned that it will launch a strike to prevent Syrian chemical weapons from falling into the hands of Hezbollah or other extremists, the AP reports. Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom told reporters that top security officials met last week to discuss the threat Syria's chemical weapons pose....

Planes Sent to Evacuate Russians in Syria

As power outage strikes Damascus

(Newser) - Moscow sent two planes to pick up Russian citizens trapped in Syria's civil war today as a power outage struck Damascus and a swath of the country's south, report Russia Today and the AP . The Russian planes were headed for Beirut, where about 100 people, mostly women and...

Syria Opposition Again Can't Form Government

Second attempt by Syrian National Coalition fails

(Newser) - Two months after Syria's fractious opposition movement came together to form the Syrian National Coalition , a second attempt to form a transitional government has failed. SNC leaders said Istanbul talks broke up with no agreement on an interim prime minister to run opposition-held areas, Reuters reports. It's yet...

106 Dead in New Syria Massacre

Burned bodies point to pro-Assad militia

(Newser) - Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appear to have carried out another massacre, killing 106 people in Homs this week, reports Reuters . While it is unclear whether the killings were done by the Syrian military or a militia loyal to Assad, activists pointed out Homs has been the center...

Report: US Suspects Syria Used Chemical Weapons

State Department cable makes the case, says 'Foreign Policy'

(Newser) - Did Bashar al-Assad already use chemical weapons on his own people? A secret State Department cable obtained by Foreign Policy makes the case that a Syrian tank fired a shell loaded with a poison gas known as Agent 15 during fighting in Homs on Dec. 23. Doctors say five people...

Dozens of College Students Killed in Syria Bombing

Blasts at university in Aleppo leave about 80 dead

(Newser) - The University of Aleppo had somehow managed to avoid much of the violence engulfing Syria—until today. At least two huge blasts struck the university as exams were beginning, reports the Wall Street Journal . Most accounts put the death toll at about 80, with another 150 or so wounded. Most...

Rape a &#39;Weapon of War&#39; in Syria
 Rape a 'Weapon of War' in Syria 
Jan 14, 2013 7:32 AM CST

Rape a 'Weapon of War' in Syria

And a main reason people are fleeing the country, activist group says

(Newser) - Rape is "a significant and disturbing feature of the Syrian civil war," and a major reason refugees are fleeing the country, according to a report released today by a US-based activist group. The International Rescue Committee interviewed refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, and found that many identified rape...

Syrian Rebels Free 48 Iranians in Prisoner Swap

In exchange, regime releases more than 2,000

(Newser) - Syrian rebels freed 48 Iranians held captive since August, Iranian state TV reported today, part of what appeared to be the first major prisoner swap of the civil war. The deal—reportedly coordinated by a Turkish Islamic aid group—will also involve the release of more than 2,000 held...

Syria's Chemical Weapons Sparked Global Unity

'New York Times' takes a look at international response

(Newser) - The New York Times today takes a behind-the-scenes look at the Syria chemical weapons scare that erupted in early December . Israel first contacted the Pentagon in late November, concerned by satellite images showing Syrian troops likely making sarin gas bombs . That call sparked a rare show of cooperation between countries...

Syrians Ignore Assad's 'Peace Plan' Speech

And it could turn off UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi

(Newser) - Syria's civil war raged on today, without the slightest pause of acknowledgement for yesterday's rare Bashar al-Assad speech . It was billed as the unveiling of a "peace plan," but Assad offered essentially no concessions and spent much of the speech justifying his bloody crackdown. And there...

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