Today: SYRIA Today, Apr 20, 2011

Apr 20, 2011

SYRIA Today, Apr 20, 2011

'Syria's Assad to lift emergency today'
Hindustan Times
The government announced on Tuesday a series of measures intended to secure its grip on Syria in an attempt to calm a protest movement that has been growing across the country over the past month. The cabinet approved a bill to rescind the state of ...
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Despite Concessions, Syria Protests Continue
NPR
In Syria today, the government announced the repeal of the emergency law which has been in effect for nearly 50 years. It has allowed the government to arrest people without cause. A state court would also be abolished, a court where political ...
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Libya, Syria and Middle East unrest - live coverage
The Guardian (blog)
9.32am: Bob Stewart, who served as a UN commander in Bosnia and is now a Conservative MP, told Radio Four's Today programme that sending in military advisers was only "just" in accordance with the UN resolution. 'Just' because we can't go further. ...
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The Guardian (blog)
Syrian protestors defiant, despite clashes
ABC Online
EMILY BOURKE: In Syria tensions between the government and democracy activists have escalated despite the government passing a law to lift the country's 48-year-old state of emergency laws. The change follows weeks of protests and came after security ...
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Lebanon PM designate heads to London
Ya Libnan
In a possible reference to Syria and Bahrain uprisings Mikati's press office denied on Wednesday a report published in the An-Nahar newspaper earlier in the day about a visit to Syria . The statement issued by the office cited An-Nahar's report that ...
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Ya Libnan
Syria lifts emergency but police arrest leftist
Stabroek News
... View Comments AMMAN (Reuters) – The Syrian authorities' arrest of a leftist opposition figure overnight suggests that a bill passed by the government to end emergency rule after 48 years will not halt repression, rights campaigners said today. ...
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Muted Holy Week celebrations in Syria
Catholic Culture
We consulted the government, but this was our decision. Nobody imposed it upon us. We are worried and adapting our celebrations shows that we feel whatever happens today also affects us.” Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, ...
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Yemeni Police Shoot Their Own People, Mirroring Syria's Response to the Uprising
Firedoglake
Syria was not the only country where security personnel shot protesters today. In Yemen, the police did the same exact thing, killing three: Yemeni security forces opened fire on anti-government protesters Tuesday, killing at least three amid rising ...
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El Al bomb plotter could be released early
The Associated Press
Britain severed its ties with Syria following the trial, alleging that Damascus had orchestrated the foiled attack. Syria has denied any involvnment. Israelis, meanwhile, tightened their security procedures, and even today it isn't unusual for Israeli ...
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Syria's reforms: Authentic or not?
CNN (blog)
If a majority is obtained by a new party, will it get to name the new Speaker of Parliament - who until today has had to be a member of the ruling Baath Party? Will that party get to name the Prime Minister, who is currently also a Baathist? ...
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Syrian reform pledges ring hollow as more protesters killed
Amnesty International
Syria's President must back up his pledge to introduce reforms with immediate, concrete action to end the continuing wave of killings of protesters by his security forces, Amnesty International said today. “We welcome reports that the government has ...
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US Funds Help Democracy Activists Avoid Government Internet Crackdowns
Bloomberg
“In Syria,” said Solomon, “how they frame the opposition as lackeys, a falsely generated movement, can actually put people at risk.” In Burma, by contrast, the regime does not rely on an anti-American narrative. Republicans have pushed for more money ...
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Thousands protest in Syria
USA Today
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner expressed concern about Issa's arrest, noting its timing only a day after Assad's speech promising reform and the repeal of Syria's emergency law. “This arrest today calls into question the Syrian ...
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Syria: UK Concerned As Deaths Continue
Eurasia Review
The Foreign Secretary said “today's decision to remove the decades-old Emergency Law is a step in the right direction.” However, Hague stressed it is only one part of a wider package of necessary reforms. “The Syrian authorities should do more to ...
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Eurasia Review
US State Department Reaches Out To The World Online
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
The time has come for Syria to stop the oppression and listen to its people's political and economic demands." It included the hash tags "Syria" and "Obama." A user attempts to bypass the ban on Facebook in Syria using a proxy server in Damascus. ...
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RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Clinton condemns Syrian violence
Kyiv Post
She said it was tough to confirm reports about Homs because Syria is blocking the access of journalists to many areas. Clinton said President Bashar Assad's government must halt arbitrary arrests and torture of prisoners. ...
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Crude Oil Rises for Second Day on Improving Outlook for Global Fuel Demand
Bloomberg
Unrest in the Middle East and North Africa has toppled leaders in Egypt and Tunisia and spread to Libya, Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Oman, Syria and Yemen. Libyan crude output, which averaged 1.6 million barrels a day last year, shrank to 390000 barrels a ...
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Weak dollar may support Metals, Crude oil in India
Commodity Online
The commodity also remains supported from regional unrest which has toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt and has spread to other countries like Libya, Bahrain, Iran, Oman, Algeria, Yemen and Syria. Prices touched an intra-day high of $109.30/bbl and ...
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Heritage Foundation's expert: Syrian President's regime may fall
Trend News Agency
New anti-government rallies were held in Syria on the night of April 18. Around 10000 people marched the streets of the port city of Latakiya. The demonstration followed the funeral of a protester killed on April 16. The protesters demanded releasing ...
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Trend News Agency
Editorial Roundup: Excerpts From Recent Editorials
The Associated Press
Online: http://www.thestar.com ___ April 19 Arab News, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Syria's protests: Syria continues to hurtle down the precipice. The more the Baathist regime in Damascus tries to rein in the widening anti-government protests using the ...
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Putin Says Russia Must Avoid Liberal Experiments as 2012 Election Looms
Bloomberg
Oil has risen 20 percent this year in New York, reaching as high as $109.85 a barrel today, after unrest in the Middle East and North Africa toppled leaders in Egypt and Tunisia and spread to countries including Libya and Syria. ...
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Canada joins the inflation club
FX-MM
It looks as though the state of emergency in Syria is about to come to an end. It has lasted for nearly half a century, not bad when you consider the dictionary definition of emergency; “a sudden, urgent, usually unexpected occurrence requiring ...
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Future Bloc asks Foreign Ministry to summon Syrian Ambassador
iloubnan.info
... on Tuesday Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister, Ali Shami, to duly summon the Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdulkarim Ali, at the backdrop of accusations of Future's MP Jamal Jarrah of implication in Syria's unrest. ...
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The Catholic Difference: Christians in the Middle East
Catholic San Francisco
2) 90 percent of Christian Arabs live in conditions of dhimmitude today, including the Copts in Egypt, the Chaldeans and Assyrians in Iraq, and the Greek Orthodox and Melkites in Syria, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority. These are the Christians at ...
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U. Middle East Center folds outreach in face of financial struggles
Salt Lake Tribune
Understanding the roots of the revolutionary movement sweeping North Africa, the protests in Bahrain, Yemen and Syria, and the broad spectrum of Islamic movements is pivotal to understanding today's world,” outreach director Cynthia Douglass wrote in a ...
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Around Our Towns
Minuteman News Center
This spring, Dr. Baxer returned from his seventh trip to the Middle East, spending time in Syria and Jordan. He will include reflections on this experience as well in an effort to share insights into understanding Iran and the area's Arab spring. ...
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Choose the date
Public Radio of Armenia
One should not worry, as it is caused by the specks of dust brought to Armenia by southwestern winds mostly from the deserts of Syria and Kuwait,” Head of the Atmosphere Monitoring Center Baghdasar Sngryan told “Radiolur”
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Public Radio of Armenia
S&P500: what trend should traders count on?
«Market Leader» - news and previews making you rich.
Since the beginning of the year crude oil has gained in value 18% against the background of the political conflicts spreading over Tunis, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Bahrain and Yemen. Analysts are currently focused on the situation in Syria, saying that the ...
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«Market Leader» - news and previews making you rich.
Libya: History repeating itself?
The Citizen Daily
These were Cuba, Libya, and Syria. Later on, the list was expanded to include the countries referred to as “outpost of tyranny”. These were Belarus, Zimbabwe and Myanmar. As already alluded to, the global political scene appears to be changing ...
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Saadi Commemoration Day programs announced
Iran Book News Agency
The inauguration program begins today (Wednesday 20 April) at the Tomb of Saadi with the presence of a number of state authorities, professors, researchers, students and Saadi scholars from within and without the country, ie Syria, Russia, Cuba, ...
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Iran Book News Agency
Lost in transliteration: Banks struggle to freeze Gadhafi assets
Salon
So little time has passed and yet who speaks like that today? Who could? Have you noticed, by the way, how repetitiously our president, various presidential candidates, and others now insist that we are "the greatest nation on Earth" (as they speak of ...
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