A team of Arab observers headed to Syria yesterday as neighboring Turkey condemned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for turning his country into a “bloodbath” after the regime killed more than 200 people this week alone, drawing international condemnation and dramatically raising the death toll in the nine-month uprising.
More than 100 people were killed just outside the village of Kfar Owaid, about 50km from the northern border with Turkey in Syria’s Idlib Province on Tuesday. Government troops surrounded residents and activists in a valley, then unleashed a barrage of rockets, tank shells, bombs and gunfire in an hours-long assault that one activist described as an “organized massacre.”
The UN says more than 5,000 people have died since March as Syria has sought to put down the uprising — part of the Arab Spring of protests that has toppled long-serving unpopular leaders in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.
On Wednesday, the administration of US President Barack Obama accused the Syrian government of continuing to “mow down” its people and the French foreign ministry said everything must be done to stop this “murderous spiral.”
Turkey, once a close Syria ally, said in a statement early yesterday that the violence was in stark contrast to the spirit of the Arab League deal Syria signed on to and that it is raising doubts about Syria’s “true intentions.”
“We strongly condemn the Syrian leadership’s policies of oppression against its own people, which are turning the country into a bloodbath,” a Turkish foreign ministry statement said.
It said no administration “can come out a winner from a struggle against its own people.”
Despite the latest violence, the Arab League appeared to be going ahead with plans to send in its first delegation of monitors yesterday.
The advance team, led by the Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Sameer Seif el-Yazal was scheduled to arrive in Syria later in the day. The team is to arrange logistics for an upcoming mission of about 20 experts in military affairs and human rights, which will head for Syria on Sunday, led by Lieutenant General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa of Sudan.
Another team of 100 observers will leave for Syria within two weeks, according to the plan.
Syrian activists have accused al-Assad’s regime of an “organized massacre” in Idlib.
Members of Syria’s opposition said the bloodshed outside the village of Kfar Owaid was evidence of the authoritarian leader’s intent to intensify the crackdown on the uprising before the Arab League observers arrive.
The death toll from two days of violence this week topped 200, including up to 70 army defectors killed near the city of Idlib, the activists said.
FLYBY: The object, appears to be traveling more than 60 kilometers per second, meaning it is not bound by the sun’s orbit, astronomers studying 3I/Atlas said Astronomers on Wednesday confirmed the discovery of an interstellar object racing through the solar system — only the third-ever spotted, although scientists suspect many more might slip past unnoticed. The visitor from the stars, designated 3I/Atlas, is likely the largest yet detected, and has been classified as a comet, or cosmic snowball. “It looks kind of fuzzy,” said Peter Veres, an astronomer with the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, which was responsible for the official confirmation. “It seems that there is some gas around it, and I think one or two telescopes reported a very short tail.” Originally known as A11pl3Z before
US President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday accused Harvard University of violating the civil rights of its Jewish and Israeli students, and threatened to cut off all federal funding if the university does not take urgent action. Harvard has been at the forefront of Trump’s campaign against top US universities after it defied his calls to submit to oversight of its curriculum, staffing, student recruitment and “viewpoint diversity.” Trump and his allies claim that Harvard and other prestigious universities are unaccountable bastions of liberal, anti-conservative bias and anti-Semitism. In a letter sent to the president of Harvard, a federal task
‘CONTINUE TO SERVE’: The 90-year-old Dalai Lama said he hoped to be able to continue serving ‘sentient beings and the Buddha Dharma’ for decades to come The Dalai Lama yesterday said he dreamed of living for decades more, as the Buddhist spiritual leader prayed with thousands of exiled Tibetans on the eve of his 90th birthday. Thumping drums and deep horns reverberated from the Indian hilltop temple, as a chanting chorus of red-robed monks and nuns offered long-life prayers for Tenzin Gyatso, who followers believe is the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Looking in good health, dressed in traditional maroon monk robes and a flowing yellow wrap, he led prayers — days after confirming that the 600-year-old Tibetan Buddhist institution would continue after his death. Many exiled Tibetans
Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mexican capital on Friday denouncing gentrification caused by foreigners, with some vandalizing businesses and shouting “gringos out!” The demonstration in the capital’s central area turned violent when hooded individuals smashed windows, damaged restaurant furniture and looted a clothing store. Mexico City Government Secretary Cesar Cravioto said 15 businesses and public facilities were damaged in what he called “xenophobic expressions” similar to what Mexican migrants have suffered in other countries. “We are a city of open arms... there are always ways to negotiate, to sit at the table,” Cravioto told Milenio television. Neighborhoods like Roma-Condesa
RSS