http://www.mail.com/people/22022-bashar-assad.html Mail.com - the best personalized free web-based Email en en http://sec-s.uicdn.com/mail.com/2.28/img/mailcom_logo_rss.png http://www.mail.com/people/22022-bashar-assad.html http://www.mail.com/news/world/2092520-report-torture-evidence-syrian-prisons.html BEIRUT (AP) — Rights activists visiting abandoned government prisons in the first Syrian city to come under rebel control have found torture devices and other evidence that detainees were abused there, Human Rights Watch said in a report Friday. Raqqa, in eastern Syria, was overrun in late February by rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad. The ... Fri, 17 May 2013 18:31:02 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/2092520-report-torture-evidence-syrian-prisons.html 2013-05-17T18:31:02Z http://www.mail.com/business/economy/2092478-syria-ex-minister-leads-rebuilding-plan.html BEIRUT (AP) — A six-member U.N. team led by a former Syrian planning minister is drawing up a comprehensive postwar reconstruction plan even as the country's civil war rages on with no apparent end in sight. A joint U.S.-Russian push to bring together Syria's political opposition and representatives of President Bashar Assad's regime to negotiate a peacef... Fri, 17 May 2013 07:08:53 GMT http://www.mail.com/business/economy/2092478-syria-ex-minister-leads-rebuilding-plan.html 2013-05-17T07:08:53Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/2091852-syrian-troops-flush-rebels-prison.html BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian government troops on Thursday flushed out rebels who had stormed a prison compound in the northern city of Aleppo in a bid to free hundreds of political prisoners inside. The forced retreat was the latest setback for fighters seeking to topple President Bashar Assad, whose forces have been gaining ground in the country's civil war. In... Thu, 16 May 2013 22:25:37 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/2091852-syrian-troops-flush-rebels-prison.html 2013-05-16T22:25:37Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/2091626-us-turkey-project-united-front-syria.html WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan projected a united front Thursday on Syria, keeping stark differences about how much the U.S. should intervene behind closed doors as they looked to Russia and the global community to close ranks behind efforts to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. Under a pair of um... Thu, 16 May 2013 21:43:50 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/2091626-us-turkey-project-united-front-syria.html 2013-05-16T21:43:50Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/2091516-congress-rethinks-911-law-military-force.html WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is rethinking the broad authority it gave the president to wage a war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in light of how President Barack Obama has used the power to target suspected terrorists with lethal drone strikes. Senior Pentagon officials insisted on Thursday that the law should remain unchanged as the... Thu, 16 May 2013 20:17:14 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/2091516-congress-rethinks-911-law-military-force.html 2013-05-16T20:17:14Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/2091426-us-sanctions-4-syrian-ministers-rebel-leader.html WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration has added four Syrian government ministers to a U.S. terror blacklist as well as the leader of an al-Qaida-linked organization fighting President Bashar Assad's (bah-SHAR' AH'-sahd) regime. Thursday's actions highlight America's twin goals in Syria: It wants the Assad regime to end but doesn't want extremists tak... Thu, 16 May 2013 19:43:52 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/2091426-us-sanctions-4-syrian-ministers-rebel-leader.html 2013-05-16T19:43:52Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/2090910-turkish-pm-talks-syria-with-obama-white-house.html WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Thursday that the U.S. and Turkey will keep ramping up pressure to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad from power, but there's "no magic formula" to stop his violence. At a news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the White House Rose Garden, Obama says the only way to resolve the cri... Thu, 16 May 2013 19:30:50 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/2090910-turkish-pm-talks-syria-with-obama-white-house.html 2013-05-16T19:30:50Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/2090134-jordan-jet-crashes-syrian-border-2-killed.html AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan's military says a trainer jet has crashed near the Syrian border, killing its two Jordanian pilots. A spokesman says the British-made aerobatic T-67 Firefly trainer was on a routine flight early Thursday west of King Hussein Air College, a Royal Jordanian Air Force base in the border town of Mafraq, when it developed an unspeci... Thu, 16 May 2013 12:09:36 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/2090134-jordan-jet-crashes-syrian-border-2-killed.html 2013-05-16T12:09:36Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/2086564-un-general-assembly-approves-syria-resolution.html UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly approved an Arab-backed resolution Wednesday calling for a political transition in Syria, but more than 70 countries refused to vote "yes" because of its support for the main opposition group and fears the resolution could torpedo a new U.S.-Russia effort to end the escalating conflict. The United States co-... Wed, 15 May 2013 23:13:21 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/2086564-un-general-assembly-approves-syria-resolution.html 2013-05-15T23:13:21Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/2085584-attacks-lebanese-alawites-deepen-fears.html TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanese members of the Syrian leader's Alawite sect fear their tiny community will be a casualty of the civil war raging in the neighboring country. Already, Sunni Muslim extremists have stoned a school bus, vandalized stores and beaten or stabbed a number of men in a wave of attacks against Lebanese Alawites, stoking fears of eve... Tue, 14 May 2013 20:04:23 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/2085584-attacks-lebanese-alawites-deepen-fears.html 2013-05-14T20:04:23Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/2083968-13-detained-turkish-bombings-death-toll-to-51.html ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Four more people have been detained in connection with two car bomb attacks that killed dozens in a Turkish town near the Syrian border, bringing the number of suspects in custody to 13, Turkey's prime minister said Tuesday. Syria again rejected Turkey's contention it was involved, condemning the attacks and offering to conduct a joi... Tue, 14 May 2013 18:45:19 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/2083968-13-detained-turkish-bombings-death-toll-to-51.html 2013-05-14T18:45:19Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/2084084-kerry-expects-syrians-to-attend-transition-talks.html STOCKHOLM (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a stern warning Tuesday to Syria's government, saying that new help will be given to opposition forces should President Bashar Assad's regime decide to back out of upcoming negotiations aimed at ending Syria's two-year war. Kerry said he has every expectation that both sides in the conflict, which... Tue, 14 May 2013 15:20:57 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/2084084-kerry-expects-syrians-to-attend-transition-talks.html 2013-05-14T15:20:57Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/2083930-putin-netanyahu-meet-to-discuss-syria.html MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday for talks that focused on the situation in Syria, amid concerns that Moscow could soon provide Damascus with advanced missiles. Israeli officials have asked Russia to stop what they say is an imminent delivery of Russian S-300 air defense systems to Syr... Tue, 14 May 2013 13:33:04 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/2083930-putin-netanyahu-meet-to-discuss-syria.html 2013-05-14T13:33:04Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/2082032-obama-tries-to-swat-2-swirling-controversies.html WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama tried to swat down a pair of brewing controversies Monday, denouncing as "outrageous" the targeting of conservative political groups by the federal IRS but angrily denying any administration cover-up after last year's deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya. Simultaneous investigations — and demands by Republicans for mo... Mon, 13 May 2013 21:15:15 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/2082032-obama-tries-to-swat-2-swirling-controversies.html 2013-05-13T21:15:15Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/2081188-obama-uk-seek-eu-changes-break-ties.html WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama waded into British politics Monday, suggesting that the United Kingdom seek to reform its relationship with the European Union before it decides to simply break away from it. The stance put Obama squarely on the side of British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was visiting the United States as he faces growing pre... Mon, 13 May 2013 21:01:20 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/2081188-obama-uk-seek-eu-changes-break-ties.html 2013-05-13T21:01:20Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/2082516-attacks-sunni-mosques-fuel-fears-iraq.html BAGHDAD (AP) — A sharp rise in attacks on Sunni holy sites in Iraq is feeding fears that the country could spiral into a new round of sectarian violence similar to the bloodletting that brought Iraq to its knees in 2006 and 2007. Majority Shiites control the levers of power in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. Wishing to rebuild the nation rather than revert to o... Mon, 13 May 2013 20:16:59 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/2082516-attacks-sunni-mosques-fuel-fears-iraq.html 2013-05-13T20:16:59Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/2081728-car-bombs-lead-to-question-turkeys-security.html REYHANLI, Turkey (AP) — Anti-government protests flared for a third day on Monday in Turkish town devastated by two powerful car bombs near the Syrian border, and some Turks accused their leader of putting the nation's security at risk by backing the rebels fighting Syria's government. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will "not refrain" fro... Mon, 13 May 2013 18:27:15 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/2081728-car-bombs-lead-to-question-turkeys-security.html 2013-05-13T18:27:15Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/2081724-putin-netanyahu-to-discuss-syrian-conflict.html MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin's talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Russia on Tuesday will focus on the situation in Syria, the Kremlin said, amid growing concerns that Moscow may soon provide Damascus with an advanced anti-aircraft weapon. Israeli officials say Russia is on the verge of selling S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to... Mon, 13 May 2013 18:25:29 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/2081724-putin-netanyahu-to-discuss-syrian-conflict.html 2013-05-13T18:25:29Z http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/2081962-walters-announces-retirement-the-view.html NEW YORK (AP) — Barbara Walters said Monday that retirement from her epochal television career is near, but it's not happening right away. Walters, who began in television news as a "Today" girl in 1961, became the medium's best-known interviewer and invented a daytime talk show at an age many people would be going fishing, said on "The View" that she wil... Mon, 13 May 2013 17:42:51 GMT http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/2081962-walters-announces-retirement-the-view.html 2013-05-13T17:42:51Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/2081136-syria-opposition-consult-allies-peace-push.html BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's main opposition bloc wants to consult its allies before deciding on joining a U.S.-Russia initiative to negotiate a peaceful transition in Syria, its leader said Monday. The U.S. and Russia called last week for an international conference to start talks that would be accompanied by a cease-fire. The two nations are on opposite sides ... Mon, 13 May 2013 14:50:30 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/2081136-syria-opposition-consult-allies-peace-push.html 2013-05-13T14:50:30Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/2081392-israel-minister-criticizes-russia-syria-arms.html JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli Cabinet minister is accusing Russia of destabilizing the Middle East by selling weapons to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. Monday's remarks by Tourism Minister Uzi Landau are likely to raise tensions with Russia on the eve of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Moscow. Netanyahu is expected to press President V... Mon, 13 May 2013 10:40:32 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/2081392-israel-minister-criticizes-russia-syria-arms.html 2013-05-13T10:40:32Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/2079872-syrian-rebels-release-4-un-filipino-peacekeepers.html DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian rebels on Sunday released four Filipino U.N. peacekeepers they abducted last week in a dramatic incident that prompted warnings from the Philippines that the nation might pull out its contingent from the Golan Heights. Meanwhile, a Syrian official said President Bashar Assad's troops have the right to enter the Israeli-occupi... Sun, 12 May 2013 18:59:18 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/2079872-syrian-rebels-release-4-un-filipino-peacekeepers.html 2013-05-12T18:59:18Z http://www.mail.com/entertainment/music/2080496-politics-commandeer-stage-mideast-tv-contest.html BEIRUT (AP) — TV singing contests around the world tend to serve up light, glitzy entertainment with a dash of emotional drama. But in the Middle East's version of "American Idol," it's the region's troubles that often take center stage. Two contestants are from civil war-ravaged Syria, including a singer-composer whose bus was ambushed by gunmen en route... Sun, 12 May 2013 18:30:46 GMT http://www.mail.com/entertainment/music/2080496-politics-commandeer-stage-mideast-tv-contest.html 2013-05-12T18:30:46Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/2079898-turkey-wont-drawn-syria-conflict.html ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's prime minister vowed Sunday his country won't be drawn into Syria's civil war, despite twin car bombings the government believes were carried out by a group of Turks with close ties to pro-government groups in Syria. The bombings left 46 people dead and marked the biggest incident of violence across the border since the star... Sun, 12 May 2013 16:17:16 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/2079898-turkey-wont-drawn-syria-conflict.html 2013-05-12T16:17:16Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/2078664-syrian-rebels-government-fight-key-highways.html BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels on Saturday cut a newly built bypass road linking the capital Damascus with the northern city of Aleppo, an activist group said, while state media reported that government troops have secured a strategic highway between the capital and the southern city of Daraa. The reported fighting came as an activist group said U.S. ambassa... Sat, 11 May 2013 19:32:31 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/2078664-syrian-rebels-government-fight-key-highways.html 2013-05-11T19:32:31Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/2073490-hezbollah-syria-to-supply-weapons-to-militia.html BEIRUT (AP) — Syria will supply "game-changing" weapons to Hezbollah, the chief of the Lebanese militant group said Thursday, less than a week after Israeli airstrikes on Damascus targeted alleged shipments of advanced Iranian missiles bound for Hezbollah. Israel has signaled it will respond with airstrikes to any future weapons shipments, meaning it coul... Thu, 09 May 2013 22:18:27 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/2073490-hezbollah-syria-to-supply-weapons-to-militia.html 2013-05-09T22:18:27Z