Tag Archives: Bashar al-Assad

December 30, 2012 · 2:20 PM

10 things you need to know today: December 30, 2012

A pedestrian walks down Main Street in Greenfield, Mass., on Dec. 27 when an earlier storm hit the region before this weekend's snowfall.

The Week

1. OBAMA ACCUSES REPUBLICANS OF BLOCKING TAX COMPROMISE
In taped remarks for NBC’s Meet the Press, President Obama said that Republicans “have had trouble saying yes to a number of repeated offers” to avoid raising taxes on the middle class, adding that “now the pressure is on Congress to produce.” Unless lawmakers act by midnight on Monday, a set of tax increases and spending cuts will automatically be imposed on Jan. 1, which would affect virtually every taxpayer and government program. On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said “hats off to the president,” because “he is going to get his tax rate increases” on wealthy Americans. Obama’s last offer to Republicans included keeping tax cuts for all Americans except those making more than $400,000. But Republicans were seeking more cuts to programs like Medicare and unemployment benefits, which has remained a point of contention in negotiations. [New York Times, BuzzFeed]
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2. INDIAN RAPE VICTIM’S BODY CREMATED IN NEW DELHI
A young Indian woman who died Saturday from the injuries she sustained from being gang-raped and battered on a New Delhi bus on Dec. 16 has been cremated. Her body had just been flown back to India from Singapore, where she had been transferred for treatment. The woman’s body was met at the airport by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, head of the ruling Congress party, as officials have seen an outpouring of anger and grief by millions across the country demanding greater protection for women from sexual violence. Six suspects who were arrested for allegedly perpetrating the attack were charged with murder on Saturday. The men face the death penalty if convicted. [Associated Press]
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3. FOOT OF SNOW HITS PARTS OF NEW ENGLAND
A winter storm that began Saturday afternoon and ended early Sunday blanketed parts of New England with up to a foot of snow. Six to 12 inches of snow fell in Rhode Island, eastern Connecticut, and eastern Massachusetts. The storm spread over the Northeast and parts of Ohio just days after the regions was hit by another storm that moved in from the nation’s midsection. [Associated Press]
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4. SYRIAN ENVOY WARNS OF SURGE IN DEATHS
Lakdhar Brahimi, the international envoy to Syria, warned Sunday that as many as 100,000 Syrians could die in the next year if a solution to the country’s civil war is not found. Activists say that more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which began in March 2011. Over the past week Brahimi went to Damascus where he met President Bashar al-Assad then flew to Moscow, one of Syria’s closest international allies, where he discussed ways of ending the country’s crisis. “The situation in Syria is bad. Very, very bad,” Brahimi said after meeting Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby. “The situation is deteriorating.” [Associated Press]
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5. NYC SUBWAY SHOVER CHARGED WITH MURDER
New York City woman Erika Menendez, 31, was charged with murder as a hate crime for allegedly pushing Sunando Sen in front of a 7 train in Queens on Thursday. Sen was crushed to death by the oncoming train. Menendez told police that she has hated Hindus and Muslims since Sept. 11 and pushed Sen because she thought he was Muslim. Sen, 46, was from India but it is unclear whether he was either Hindu or Muslim. Menendez could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted. This was the second subway-pushing death this month, though such incidents are generally rare. [CBS News]
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6. FLU SEASON IN U.S. GETS EARLY START, COULD BE SEVERE
The flu season in the United States has made its earliest debut in a decade, say the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which could make this flu season severe. In early December, the CDC said it was noticing an uptick in flu activity about a month before authorities normally see it. But officials said the vaccine formulated for this year is well-matched to the strains of the virus seen so far and urged those who have not been vaccinated to get a flu shot. [Washington Post]
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7. GEORGE H.W. BUSH LEAVES INTENSIVE CARE
Former President George H.W. Bush was moved out of intensive care at The Methodist Hospital in Houston on Saturday. Bush was hospitalized Nov. 23 for treatment of a bronchitis-related cough. He was moved to intensive care on Dec. 23 after he developed a fever. Bush, 88, is the country’s oldest living former president. [Associated Press]
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8. 21 PAKISTANI TRIBAL POLICE FOUND SHOT TO DEATH
Officials have found the bodies of 21 Pakistani tribal policemen in the Jabai area of Peshawar. The men, who were believed to have been kidnapped by the Taliban, were found shot to death. The policemen disappeared on Thursday when militants attacked two posts in the region. Meanwhile, in southwest Pakistan, a suicide bomber driving a bus packed with explosives rammed into a bus carrying Shiite Muslim pilgrims, killing 19 people. Pakistan has experienced a spike in killings over the last year by radical Sunni Muslims targeting Shiites who they consider heretics. [Associated Press (2)]
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9. VIDEO CAPTURES DEADLY RUSSIAN PLANE CRASH
Amateur video of a Russian plane crash shows part of the passenger aircraft crashing into a highway, debris flying onto the road, before five people aboard were killed. The video shows a car swerving after the impact then straightening and continuing down the highway. Behind that car is the vehicle which had the camera, capturing the scene for just over 30 seconds. That driver dodged most of the debris and managed to pull over and stop. The plane, which is owned by the Russian airline Red Wings was carrying eight people, all of them crew members, when it careered off the runway Saturday while landing at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport. The plane was traveling from the Czech Republic. [CBC News]
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10. BEYONCÉ TO BRING 100 FANS ONSTAGE DURING SUPER BOWL SHOW
As part of her new multimillion dollar partnership with Pepsi, singer Beyoncé has asked her fans to submit photos of themselves to be featured in a TV ad promoting her Super Bowl halftime show performance on Feb. 3. Of those who submit pictures by Jan. 19, 50 will be given a pair of tickets to join the singer onstage at the Superdome in New Orleans. [MTV]

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December 18, 2012 · 8:03 AM

Richard Engel and NBC News team freed from captors in Syria

This is the best news!

MSNBC

NBC News’ Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and members of his network production team were freed from captors in Syria after a firefight at a checkpoint on Monday, five days after they were taken prisoner, NBC News said early Tuesday.

“After being kidnapped and held for five days inside Syria by an unknown group, NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and his production crew members have been freed unharmed. We are pleased to report they are safely out of the country,” the network said in a statement. The captors were unidentified.

Engel, 39, along with other employees the network did not identify, disappeared shortly after crossing into northwest Syria from Turkey on Thursday. The network had not been able to contact them until learning that they had been freed on Monday.

The network said there was no claim of responsibility, no contact with the captors and no request for ransom during the time the crew was missing.

After entering Syria, Engel and his team were abducted, tossed into the back of a truck and blindfolded before being transported to an unknown location believed to be near the small town of Ma’arrat Misrin. During their captivity, they were blindfolded and bound, but otherwise not physically harmed, the network said.

Early Monday evening local time, the prisoners were being moved to a new location in a vehicle when their captors ran into a checkpoint manned by members of the Ahrar al-Sham brigade, a Syrian rebel group. There was a confrontation and a firefight ensued.  Two of the captors were killed, while an unknown number of others escaped, the network said.

The NBC News crew was unharmed in the incident. They remained in Syria until Tuesday morning when they made their way to the border and re-entered Turkey, the network said. They were to be evaluated and debriefed, but had communicated that everyone was in good health.

NBC News said it “expressed its gratitude to those who worked to gather information and secure the release of our colleagues.”

Engel is widely regarded as one of America’s leading foreign correspondents for his coverage of wars, revolutions and political transitions around the world over the last 15 years. Most recently, he was recognized for his outstanding reporting on the 2011 revolution in Egypt, the conflict in Libya and unrest throughout the Arab world.

One of the only Western journalists to cover the entire war in Iraq , Engel was named chief foreign correspondent of NBC News in April 2008. He joined the network in May 2003.

The Syrian civil war began in March 2011, when demonstrators took to the streets to show support for the so-called Arab Spring uprisings sweeping across the Middle East and north Africa and to demand the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad of the ruling Ba’ath Party. The following month, Assad deployed the Syrian army to quell the uprising, ordering troops to open fire on demonstrators. But despite the harsh crackdown, Assad’s troops and militias loyal to the government were unable to quell what soon became an armed uprising.

In the intervening months, the security situation in the country has continued to deteriorate amid increasingly fierce fighting between Syrian troops and a loose confederation of outgunned but increasingly emboldened rebel forces. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimated in November that more than 40,000 people had died in the fighting.

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November 1, 2012 · 11:13 AM

10 things you need to know today: November 1, 2012

The Week

Obama returns to the campaign trail, the recovery from Hurricane Sandy begins, and more in our roundup of the stories that are making news and driving opinion

Homes wrecked by superstorm Sandy in Seaside Heights, N.J.: Some 2 million people have had their power restored on the East Coast, but another 6 million remain in the dark.

Homes wrecked by superstorm Sandy in Seaside Heights, N.J.: Some 2 million people have had their power restored on the East Coast, but another 6 million remain in the dark. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images

1. OBAMA AND ROMNEY GO POSITIVE AFTER STORM
President Obama is returning to the campaign trail on Thursday, after spending three days focused on leading the federal response to Hurricane Sandy. Aides said Obama, who aggressively criticized Romney at rallies before the storm, would wrap up the last five days before election day with a more “affirmative” message as he launches a tour of swing states, including Nevada, Colorado, and Ohio. Romney, who also canceled political rallies in the wake of the superstorm, resumed campaigning on Wednesday. The GOP nominee also stuck to positive themes on stops in Florida. The civility might not last, though. While Obama and Romney soften the tone, their surrogates are on the attack. Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday called Romney ads — which say Chrysler, after the auto bailout, is adding jobs in China at the expense of workers in swing-state Ohio — “flagrantly dishonest.” [Reuters, Associated Press]
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2. NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY BEGIN STORM RECOVERY
New Yorkers won’t have to pay fares on railways, subways, or buses on Thursday or Friday, after Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a transportation emergency in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. With the subway out of commission, traffic in Manhattan was at a standstill on Wednesday. “The gridlock was dangerous,” Cuomo said. The death toll from the storm has risen to 74, and estimates of economic damage go as high as $55 billion, but there are already signs of recovery in New York and New Jersey, the two hardest hit states. Fifty thousand utility workers from across the U.S. and Canada helped restore power to more than two million homes and businesses, although 6 million remain in the dark. Workers returned to work on Wall Street and elsewhere as some roads, bridges, and rail lines reopened. “We are on our way back to normal,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. “We are on the road to recovery.” [New York Daily News,USA Today]
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3. U.S. SAYS SYRIA REBELS NEED NEW LEADERS 
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that the Syrian National Council, a largely expatriate group plagued by infighting, can no longer be seen as the leader of the effort to topple President Bashar al-Assad. The U.S. has been frustrated by the group’s failure to assure minority groups, including members of Assad’s Alawite clan, that they would be protected if Assad falls. Also, the opposition can’t be led by “people who have many good attributes but have in many instances not been inside Syria for 20, 30, or 40 years,” Clinton said. “There has to be a representation of those who are on the front lines fighting and dying today.” [Washington Post]
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4. BARCLAYS HIT WITH RECORD PENALTY
Federal regulators are proposing a record $470 million in penalties against the London-based Barclays bank for allegedly rigging energy markets in the western U.S. from 2006 to 2008. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also wants trader Scott Connelly to pay an individual penalty of $15 million. Three of his colleagues would be on the hook for $1 million each. A Barclays spokesman said the bank refutes the allegations, and believes “our trading was legitimate and in compliance with applicable law.” [Bloomberg]
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5. BENGHAZI POST WARNED ABOUT SECURITY
A little less than a month before the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, diplomats there sent a classified cable to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warning that the security team there might not have the manpower and weapons to defend against a “coordinated attack” on the compound, according to Fox News. The cable, reviewed by Fox, said that Islamist militias and al Qaeda groups had training camps in the area, although it didn’t identify any evidence that an attack was imminent. Diplomats in Benghazi said they had asked the embassy in Tripoli for physical security upgrades and more security officers. The State Department declined to comment on the cable, citing its confidentiality and the fact that an investigation into the attack is still incomplete. [Fox News]
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6. PUTIN INJURED, BUT WORKING
The staff of Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that he suffered an injury, which a spokesman said was sports-related, but denied reports that it was affecting his ability to do his job. Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said the president had “pulled a muscle,” although he dismissed rumors that Putin had made the injury worse last month in his most recent highly publicized macho stunt — flying a motorized hang-glider alongside Siberian cranes. [BBC News]
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7. ANOTHER GOP-er SLAMMED FOR RAPE COMMENT
Just a week after Indiana Senate nominee Richard Mourdock faced criticism for saying pregnancy from rape was “something God intended,”another Republican candidate is in hot water for making controversial statements about rape and abortion. John Koster, a Tea Party Republican running for a hotly contested congressional seat in Washington state, says he opposes abortions, including in cases of “the rape thing,” because abortion inflicts “more violence onto a woman’s body.” The campaign of Koster’s Democratic opponent, former Microsoft executive and state revenue director Suzan DelBene, said the remark showed that Koster is “out of touch.” Koster’s campaign accused DelBene’s campaign of twisting his words, secretly recorded at a weekend fundraiser, to make him sound “‘callous’ or ‘cavalier.’” [Reuters]
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8. SAUDI TANKER TRUCK CRASH KILLS 22
A tanker truck carrying fuel crashed into a part of a highway underpass in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Thursday, exploding in a massive fireball that killed at least 22 people. More than 100 more were injured. The blast occurred near the Saudi National Guard building in an industrial area, but there were no immediate suspicions that terrorists were involved, based on witness accounts. [CTV News]
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9. USC LOCKED DOWN AFTER SHOOTING
Police detained two suspects after a shooting during a Halloween-night party on the campus of the University of Southern California. One person, apparently the gunman’s target, was critically injured, and three bystanders were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening wounds. The shooting occurred just before midnight at an outdoor gathering of about 100 people. University officials immediately put the campus on lock-down, and announced that the threat had passed two hours later. [Los Angeles Times]
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10. HALLOWEEN POSTPONED IN STORM-RAVAGED N.J.
With large swaths of New Jersey still underwater after Hurricane Sandy, Gov. Chris Christie signed an executive order officially postponing Halloween celebrations across the state. Instead of Wednesday, people in New Jersey will don costumes on Monday, Nov. 5, when conditions will be safer. “I’ve taken this action to minimize additional risks to lives and the public safety as we begin the process of rebuilding and recovering from Hurricane Sandy,” Christie said. [Slate]

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August 2, 2011 · 11:48 AM

Think Progress’ Morning Briefing – August 2, 2011

Think Progress

A top union leader is warning that the deal struck to raise the nation’s debt limit with lead to job losses. Gerry McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), called the compromise the House passed yesterday “economic malpractice” that “will slow economic recovery and impose more joblessness, wage cuts and hardship on America’s working families.”

Labor market experts don’t expect the debt deal to jumpstart hiring, fearing instead that trillions of dollars in spending cuts may actually slow economic growth. Said one expert: “I would say this will have little effect if any (on hiring). … At the end of the day, demand trumps all, and right now demand is sluggish.”

In an interview with CBS News last night, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said he got “98 percent” of what he wanted in the debt deal passed yesterday. “I’m pretty happy,” he said.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the U.S. is “living like parasites on the global economy” and decried dominance of the dollar in a speech to a pro-Kremlin youth group Monday. Russia holds large amounts of U.S. bonds, and Putin hinted that he had watched debt negotiations closely: “If over there there is a systemic malfunction, this will affect everyone.”

For the second time in a month, a federal judge has temporarily blocked Kansas’s law defunding Planned Parenthood and ordered the state to start distributing funds to the clinic. U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten issued the preliminary injunction of the law because its purpose was clearly “to single out, punish and exclude Planned Parenthood.”

The 11-day shutdown of the FAA that has forced safety inspectors to work without pay will likely last through August as the House recessed yesterday for five weeks without reauthorizing the agency. The partial shutdown has furloughed 4,000 workers and will reportedly cost taxpayers $1 billion unless action is taken this week.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces killed more than 100 people across the countrySunday and, according to human rights activists, 24 more on Monday, the first day of Ramadan. President Obama slammed Assad’s use of “torture, corruption and terror” against his own people and said the regime would be “left in the past.”

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen is urging a quick decision from Iraqi leaders about whether they want U.S. troops to stay in the country past Dec. 31. Mullen is alsorequesting immunity for U.S. troops in the country.

As Somalia suffers one of world’s worst famines in recent memory, the Shabab Islamist insurgent group “is blocking starving people from fleeing the country and setting up a cantonment camp where it is imprisoning displaced people who were trying to escape Shabab territory,” the New York Times reports. The group is “widely blamed” for exacerbating the famine by forcing out Western aid organizations.

And finally: Iron-pumper, actor, terminator, governornator, philanderer: Arnold Schwarzenegger has another feather to place in his cap after his hometown of Thal, Austria opened a museum devoted to Schwarzenegger this week. Schwarzenegger was not on hand for the opening, but will make a “future trip for an official ceremony.”

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