Syria

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US Woman Killed in Syria 'Brainwashed': Family

'My mother was not a terrorist,' wrote Nicole Mansfield's daughter

(Newser) - How did Nicole Lynn Mansfield, a 33-year-old woman raised in a Baptist family in the suburbs of Michigan, end up dying alongside rebel forces in Syria this week ? It's not an easy question for her family to answer, but they have some speculation: brainwashing, bribery, or perhaps force,...

Syria Apparently Lying About Russia's Missiles

Russian sources say they won't be there for at least a year

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad must have been either mistaken or bluffing when he said Syria had already received its first shipment of S-300 air defense missiles from Russia, if reports appearing in Russian media today are true. Syria won't actually get the missiles until spring of next year, per a contract...

Picture of Michigan Woman Killed in Syria Emerges

Nicole Mansfield converted to Islam after meeting Arab immigrant: family

(Newser) - The FBI has confirmed reports that a Michigan woman was killed fighting alongside anti-government forces in Syria, her family says. A number of years ago, Nicole Mansfield married an Arab immigrant; afterward, she converted to Islam, relatives tell the Detroit Free Press . After he got a green card to stay...

Syria Says It Killed a Michigan Woman

She was allegedly with rebels; US investigating

(Newser) - An unconfirmed report on Syrian TV says government forces killed a woman from Flint, Michigan, along with a British man and another unidentified Westerner, reports CNN . Syria's official news agency showed the driver's license of a woman identified as Nicole Mansfield, 33, and said the trio were fighting...

Assad: The Russian Missiles Are Here

He says in interview to air on Hezbollah TV channel

(Newser) - On the one hand, it's a fairly expected announcement: On the heels of Russia's confirmation of a missile deal with Syria, President Bashar al-Assad has confirmed that the initial shipment of S-300 air defense missiles was in fact delivered to his country, with the second portion of the...

EU Ends Arms Embargo on Syrian Rebels

But no immediate plans to send arms

(Newser) - British Foreign Secretary William Hague says the European Union has decided to lift the arms embargo on the Syrian opposition while maintaining all other sanctions against Bashar Assad's regime after June 1. Hague said after a meeting today that the decision "sends a very strong message from Europe...

French Paper Reports Chemical Attacks in Syria Firsthand

'Le Monde' describes chemical attacks in gritty detail

(Newser) - When Obama last spoke about the use of chemical weapons in Syria, he said he wanted to avoid "rushing to judgement" because "we don't know how they were used, when they were used, who used them." Well, here's some detail: Journalists from French newspaper Le ...

Syria: OK, We'll Attend Peace Talks

Foreign minister says regime has 'agreed in principle' to go to Geneva

(Newser) - The Syrian government said today it has agreed "in principle" to take part in an international conference in Geneva next month aimed at ending the country's civil war. Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem says his government believes that the conference, proposed by Russia and the United States,...

Hezbollah Chief on Syria: 'We Will Be Victorious'

Militant group's leader openly throws chips in with Assad regime

(Newser) - Hezbollah's leader vowed to help propel President Bashar al-Assad to victory in Syria's bloody civil war, warning that the fall of the Damascus regime would give rise to extremists and plunge the Middle East into a "dark period." In a televised address, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah also...

Syria's War Triggered by ... Water?

The Tigris-Euphrates Basin is losing a lot of water, and fast

(Newser) - Tucked into a piece on the drastically dropping water levels in the Middle East's Tigris-Euphrates Basin comes this theory: The drop helped spur the Syrian civil war. As Joshua Hammer explains for Smithsonian , a pair of satellites tasked with measuring groundwater found that the basin lost the equivalent of...

Hezbollah, Assad Make Massive Push Into Key Town

Israel threatens more strikes as battle for Qusair rages

(Newser) - Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon have taken their most prominent role yet in the Syrian civil war, fighting alongside Bashar al-Assad's forces as the military attempts to regain control of a strategic rebel-held city near the Lebanese order. Activists say at least 23 members of the Iran-backed militant group have...

Russia Sends Syria Ships— and 'Ship Killers'

Moves seem designed to ward off international military intervention

(Newser) - Russia is reportedly sending military aid to Syria that seems designed to counter any attempt at military intervention from the US or other Western countries. US officials tell the New York Times that Russia has sent the regime new, radar-equipped anti-ship cruise missiles, weapons that could fend off an international...

Syrians Allege Chemical Attack: 'Suffocating Smell'

BBC thinks evidence begins to add up

(Newser) - Government helicopters dropped chemical weapons last month on the Syrian town of Saraqeb, eyewitness testimony strongly suggests. A BBC correspondent visited the town, and was regaled with accounts and videos of box-like devices being dropped out of helicopters and emitting deadly gas. "It was a horrible, suffocating smell,"...

Syria Rebel Filmed Biting Into Soldier's Heart

Human Rights Watch calls it a war crime

(Newser) - A Syrian rebel has been caught on video apparently cutting a dead soldier's heart from his body then taking a bite from it. "I swear to God we will eat your hearts and your livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog," says the rebel, identified by Human...

Dozens Dead as Blasts Rock Turkish Town Near Syria

Turkey suspects Bashar al-Assad is behind twin car bombs

(Newser) - Two car bombs exploded in a Turkish town near the border with Syria today, killing around 40 people and wounding 100 others, officials said. Turkey's deputy prime minister said Syria's intelligence and military were "the usual suspects" behind the bombings, but said authorities were still investigating. The...

Russia, US Agree to Try to End Syria War

John Kerry, Sergei Lavrov announce peace conference

(Newser) - Russia and the US haven't exactly been on the same page when it comes to dealing with Syria. That appears to have changed: John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced at a midnight press conference that their respective countries have agreed to hold a peace conference "...

Syria's Internet Goes Dark

Online traffic disappears, with no official explanation

(Newser) - A major Internet security firm issued this ominous-sounding assessment today: "On closer inspection it seems Syria has largely disappeared from the internet." That's from Dan Hubbard at Umbrella Security Labs , and other monitoring companies have similarly reported that web traffic in the country has disappeared, notes the...

UN Suspects Syrian Rebels Used Nerve Gas

'Strong suspicions' but no proof yet, top investigator says

(Newser) - Another game-changer? One of the United Nations' chief investigators says evidence is building that sarin gas was used in the Syrian conflict—but by rebels, not Bashar al-Assad's regime. "Our investigators have been in neighboring countries interviewing victims, doctors, and field hospitals" and "there are strong, concrete...

Syria: Israeli Strike a 'Declaration of War'

Israel deploys missile defenses to northern border

(Newser) - Syria is firing back figuratively at Israel after airstrikes today struck targets in and around Damascus, calling the attack "a declaration of war. This is not something that is (new)," a deputy foreign minister reports CNN . "We dealt with this on several occasions, and the retaliation was...

McCain: Obama&#39;s &#39;Red Line&#39; Written in &#39;Disappearing Ink&#39;
McCain: Obama's 'Red Line' Written in 'Disappearing Ink'
SUNDAY TALK SHOWS
May 5, 2013 9:59 AM CDT

McCain: Obama's 'Red Line' Written in 'Disappearing Ink'

Blasts White House for giving Assad 'green light'

(Newser) - John McCain blasted President Obama's handling of Syria today, reports the National Review , slamming his "red line" on chemical weapons as having been "written in disappearing ink.” The red line, he told Fox News, was really "a green light to Bashar al-Assad to do anything...

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