The European Union approved a new set of sanctions on Syria including a ban on all oil imports at an informal meeting in Poland on Friday. European leaders expect the embargo, which includes "financial or insurance services provided for [petroleum-related] transactions," to hit the Assad regime hard. Syria exports 95 percent of their oil to Europe, and oil exports make up 25 percent of the nation's income. News of the aggressive measure arrived during another set of nationwide protests, where activists say at least 13 have been killed by security forces. "President Assad is carrying out massacres in his own country," Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski told reporters following the meeting. According to the United Nations, over 2,200 people have been killed in the past six months of unrest in Syria.

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Adam Clark Estes