Russia, one of the few remaining friends of Bashar al-Assad's regime, just sent the Syrian government some advanced antiship missiles.
For the second time in as many weeks, the Internet usage in Syria disappeared mysteriously around 10 a.m. local time Wednesday with little to no warning. So, is it another case of the Assad regime trying to disrupt rebel communications or are they really having technical difficulties?
Every time it seems like the atrocities of the Syrian civil war have crossed another horrifying line, a new story comes along that pushes the bar even lower. And the video that's circulating — the one that appears to show a rebel commander eating the lung of a dead Syrian solider — is not the first video or the last, just the latest atrocity in this awful war.
Turkish officials arrested nine Turkish nationals accused of having ties to Syrian intelligence forces for the brutal car bombings that killed 46 people in Reyhanli, a town on the border of the two countries where Syrian refugees have started living since the conflict began.
It's been weeks since the first confirmations that chemical weapons are being used in Syria, but for the international community, nothing has changed when it comes to balancing the equation for going to war.
It's still relatively unclear whether the Assad regime broke the Syrian Internet — even if nobody else, even "terrorists," really could — but after a 19-and-a-half-hour near complete shutdown across Syria, service started coming back today, according to multiple analytics firms.
Did the Assad regime just shut down Syrian online access again? For several hours on Thursday — beginning around 3 p.m. Eastern time, or 10 p.m. in Damascus — Internet traffic in the warring country ground to an almost complete halt, just like it did in November when the government blacked out web usage to stymy opposition maneuvers.
After more than two years of civil war, tens of thousands of deaths, a refugee crisis, ethnic cleansing, religious strife, terrorism, chemical warfare, and an international conflict that has engulfed all of its neighbors, Syria is still in the hands of Bashar al-Assad. Just the way he planned it. Here's how we got to the current state of play after the Israel attacks, and what's next.
A member of the United Nations commission of inquiry announced on a Swiss-Italian television show that they believe the Syrian rebels have used chemical weapons on Assad's troops.
For the second time in as many days, Israel mounted a late night air raid on Syrian military facilities that were allegedly holding weapons destined for Hezbollah. This attack produced some of the biggest explosions seen in Damascus since the two year old conflict began.
Reports came out late Saturday night that Israel made the curious decision to attack Syria, potentially entering the armed conflict, but as more information came out it was clear Israel was trying to protect its own interests.
Even though the administration has said that a "red line" would involve chemical weapons, there remain a lot of questions about the Assad regime. "For instance, did he use them in a boat? Did he use them with a goat? Did he use them in a house? Did he use them with a mouse?"
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, is running his mouth about Syria again, only this time the Assad ally sounds like he's actually getting ready to make a move.
The Obama administration is getting ready to send arms to Syrian rebels, The Washington Post's Karen DeYoung reports, by way of very convoluted descriptions from anonymous senior administration officials attempting to describe the Obama administration's thinking. Got that? Didn't think so. Here's a guide to where we're at — almost.
A new CBS News/New York Timespoll suggests that most Americans aren't concerned about conflict with North Korea or Syria. However, the results also suggest that the reason Americans don't care about the conflict is because they aren't paying attention.
Syria's government has come forward to deny accusations that it has used chemical weapons, saying the United States lacks credibility. However, everyone from David Cameron to Barack Obama to Chuck Hagel and Jay Carney are stepping carefully around any response to the big question: "What are you going to do about it?"
Around the same time that the White House announced that it believe the Assad regime had crossed the "red line" President Obama set months ago, some troubling videos of alleged victims of a chemical attack made their way around the web.
John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Bob Corker told reporters they believe the presence of the chemical weapons signals that the Assad regime has crossed the so-called "red line" the administration laid out previously that should dictate increased action by the U.S.
In a stunning admission, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, as well as the White House and Secretary of State John Kerry, announced today that the U.S. intelligence services have evidence that chemical weapons have been used in the Syrian civil war
Last month at a meeting in Israel, President Obama defined his "game changer" on American involvement in the Syrian civil war as Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons against his people. Today in Israel, a major Israeli military intelligence official said that Assad had done just that. With British and French officials appearing to believe the same, is the game about to change?
Just when we thought that those Syrian chemical weapons attack claims were another false alarm, The Times is reporting that British scientists have found "hard evidence" that chemical weapons were used "at least once." We just don't know which side used them.
A YouTube video of Syrian men graciously offering their services in defending the U.S. from impending annihilation by North Korea is a window into the sad reality of tens of thousands of murdered and disappeared people.
Reportedly facing pressure from U.N. security council allies, the U.S. is considering jumping into the Syrian conflict.
There aren't a lot of rebels fighting against the Assad regime in Syria who update Facebook regularly. There are fewer still who were born in Phoenix, Arizona, and are U.S. Army veterans. But that's not why Eric Harroun faces federal charges. The FBI arrested him because he fought alongside Al Qaeda, employing a "weapon of mass destruction."
U.S. intelligence sources spent most of last week tamping down the idea that the Syrians have begun using chemical weapons on each other. So why isn't Representative Mike Rogers going along with them?
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib announced his resignation as National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces chief on Sunday, but there are conflicting reports over who wanted him out and whether or not he'll end up leaving in the end.
Secretary of State John Kerry made a surprise trip to Iraq on Sunday to urge Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to at the very least do something about the continued Iranian flights to Syria that go right through Iraq's airspace. Right now they're not doing very much.
This week delivered a familiar narrative from Syria. Allegations of a chemical weapons attack bubbled up to the international stage, eliciting shock and awe across the board, only to be disproven a couple days later.
A leading Sunni imam with close ties to Bashar al-Assad was killed today, when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside his mosque — a potential turning point that risks pushing the conflict from a war to unseat Assad into a Sunni vs. Shia grudge match.
President Obama faced a simple question: Did the dueling accusations about chemical weapons in Syria cross his supposed line to engage or not? Well, in a press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu, he said the line is still there, and chemical weapons are a "game changer" — he's just not sure who crossed it yet. But he's "deeply skeptical" the opposition did.
Did Syria use chemical weapons on its own people? If the verdict comes back "yes," then what? Will U.S. troops invade or bomb the country, as Republicans have suggested? Give the rebels all the guns they need? Welcome to the land of no consequences.
The South Carolina senator called for U.S. troops to secure weapons of mass destruction sites in Syria on Tuesday, the eve of the tenth anniversary of the Iraq invasion he supported.
The Syrian regime blamed rebel forces for a chemical-weapons attack in the dangerous Aleppo province that killed around 16 people and wounded around 86 on Tuesday. The opposition denied the report, and said all talks would be cut off, because, really, these two sides can't agree on anything anymore.
It's hard to decide how Ghassan Hitto's recent election as interim prime minister of the Syrian opposition will play out in the near future, but the United States must be a little bit pumped. Or at least optimistic.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
While Europe and the U.S. hem-and-haw about finding ways to support Syria's rebel army — and get threatened for even considering it — Iran appears to have no reservations about funneling money to their enemies.
The government of the Netherlands raised its terror threat level to "substantial" today, amid fears that terrorists trained in Syria will try to disrupt the coronation of their new king.
This month will mark the second anniversary of the start of the Syrian civil war, and after two years of violence and destruction the number of citizens who have fled to neighboring countries has reached 1,000,000.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
As has been feared for months, violence from the Syrian civil war has spilled across the border into Iraq, threatening an already unstable balance of power in the neighboring country.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rarely speaks to his own people, or even emerges from his Presidential palace, so him giving an interview should be newsworthy in and of itself. But then, on top of giving an interview, he and said some terrible things about Britain.
Barring any international intervention or rebel advancement, Bashar al-Assad will be the President for another year, at least, if Iran is to be believed. Their friendship will live on.
Paul Krugman on Ben Bernanke vs. the man, Yochai Benkler on the Bradley Manning case, Jonathan DeHart on Dennis Rodman in North Korea, Michael O'Hanlon on intervention beyond Syria, and David Min on government-backed mortgages.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
New Secretary of State John Kerry met with leaders of the Syria opposition today and pledged the United States to increased assistance for the rebels—but only the "nonlethal" kind.
After a couple of high-profile corporate hacks last week, a much nastier Twitter sabotage took place today on behalf of supporters of Bashar Al-Assad.
A steady stream of weapons from the Balkan has been flowing across the border and into Syrian rebels hands since December, thanks to some clandestine assistance from Saudi Arabia.
Just one day after Russia and the Arab League proposed to facilitate talks between President Bashar al Assad's government and Syrian opposition forces, a massive car bomb has detonated in the heart of Damascus—right where the Russian embassy is located.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
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