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The 2,000-year-old Jobar Synagogue in the Syrian capital of Damascus was looted and burned to the ground. The Syrian army loyal to President Bashar Assad and rebel forces are blaming each other for the destruction of the historic synagogue ... The Jobar synagogue was built atop a cave that, according to tradition, was used by the prophet Elijah to conceal himself from prosecution. The synagogue is said to have been built by Elijah's successor, the prophet Elisha, and repaired during the first century by Eleazar ben Arach.

Bashar al-Assad was killed by a bodyguard ... (Arab media) Update: According to Arab media www.eltira.org , Bashar al-Assad would have been seriously wounded by gunfire last night Saturday, March 23 by his bodyguard but Iran is not dead. He is currently hospitalized, between life and death, Shami Hospital in Damascus which the streets were closed. Proprietary information (in France): According to reports in the Arab press (and then republished in the Israeli press ), information that journalists say they have "verified" the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was killed this morning by one of his bodyguards. An important safety device...

On New Year’s Day in 1988, Abdullah Ali, an Iraqi businessman who had been living in London for eight years, joined three compatriots for dinner at a restaurant called Cleopatra in Notting Hill.The next morning, he was taken ill with flu-like symptoms and was admitted to hospital. There his condition rapidly deteriorated — his hair fell out, he developed excruciating skin and joint pain, and paralysis and respiratory failure began to set in. Fifteen days later he was dead — but not before he had begun to wonder whether something had been added to his vodka. He was right: the...

Just now.. breaking on Shepard Smith's show. Huge explosion in Damascus.

As the civil war in Syria enters its third year, there is much discussion of the regimeÂ’s chemical weapons and whether SyriaÂ’s Bashar al-Assad will unleash them against Syrian rebels, or whether a power vacuum after AssadÂ’s fall might make those horrific tools available to the highest bidder. The conversation centers on SyriaÂ’s chemical weaponry, not on something vastly more serious: its nuclear weaponry. It well might have. This is the inside story of why it does not. Relations between the United States and Israel had grown rocky after IsraelÂ’s incursion into Lebanon in 2006, for Secretary of State Condoleezza...

Obama’s Amazing AchievementsHis military intervention prompted some stunning reversals. By bombing Libya, President Obama has accomplished some things once thought absolutely impossible in America:(a) War-mongering liberals: Liberals are now chest-thumping about military “progress” in Libya. Even liberal television and radio commentators cite ingenious reasons why an optional, preemptive American intervention in an oil-producing Arab country, without prior congressional approval or majority public support — and at a time of soaring deficits — is well worth supporting, in a sort of “my president, right or wrong,” fashion. Apparently, liberal foreign policy is returning to the pre-Vietnam days of the hawkish “best...

Pro-regime Syrian newspaper Al Diyar reported Friday that the army has loaded four Scud missiles, each with an explosive head of 500 kilograms, and is ready to strike Israel. The newspaper also stated that the Syrian army command held a meeting Thursday evening to discuss a response to Israel, including striking research centers in Tel Aviv. Mohammed Dirar Jammu, head of political and international relations at the World Organization of Arab expatriates, said to pro-Syrian regime TV channel Alakhbarya that "the Syrian military response to the Israeli bombing of the research center, in Damascus, will be earthshaking and staggering to...

The Israeli elections, President Obama’s inauguration speech and the violence in Syria all feature prominently in Arab news Tuesday. >>SNIP<< Quoting French sources, A-Sharq Al-Awsat quotes an exchange between Syrian President Bashar Assad and the international envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi. According to the daily, Brahimi told Assad that he could not remain in power and that the opposition could defeat him, but the cost may be the complete destruction of Damascus. To that, Assad reportedly answered “I will win the war, even if Damascus is destroyed.”

"We tell Benjamin Netanyahu, the (Israeli) prime minister, get ready. The army of the Prophet Mohammad is coming your way." Abu Muhammad al-Tahawi, jihadist leader in Syria They can say what they want, kill whom they like, oppress and subjugate at will, and get unequivocal money and support, but if a Jew dares to build a home in Jerusalem, there's hell to pay. "America is the mother of all terror in the world" -- Abed Shihadeh, who is also known as Abu Muhammad al-Tahawi, jihadist leader in Syria Oh, and Obama is backing these jihadi rebels. Jordanian "Salafist leader, First...

Forget the Grand Prix or the Daytona 500, the real race right now is the race to Damascus. The racers include Syrian rebels in pickup trucks with mounted machine guns and homemade tanks, toting weapons and equipment supplied and paid for by Qatar and Turkey, and more covertly by the British and French intelligence services. Racing along with them are carloads of international diplomats urging their governments to give the Islamist militias more money and more weapons. Everyone is on the road to Damascus in this amazing race. Christian refugees from Aleppo, Alawites packing in behind the tanks of the...

Following are excerpts from footage of a demonstration that took place in Damascus, which was posted on the Internet on September 14, 2012. Demonstrator: Oh Bashar, you traitor... Crowds: Oh Bashar, you traitor... Demonstrator: We want to instate the Koran. Crowds: We want to instate the Koran. Demonstrator: To hell with freedom... Crowds: To hell with freedom... Demonstrator: We want an Islamic caliphate. Crowds: We want an Islamic caliphate. Demonstrator: To hell with being peaceful... Crowds: To hell with being peaceful... Demonstrator: We want weapons and AK-47s. Crowds: We want weapons and AK-47s. Demonstrator: To hell with being peaceful... Crowds:...

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's troops are currently pounding Aleppo after Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces launched an offensive attack. Days earlier, regime forces were cracking down on a FSA guerilla attack in the heart of the capital, Damascus. In Homs, clashes between both forces are ongoing. Yet there is still no sign that Assad is even considering stepping down. It has become clear that there's no going back for the Syrian people, as they are now convinced that Assad had no intention of reform. Consequently, the rebellion is spreading, defections within the regime's army are increasing and opposition forces have...

I’m finishing writing my new novel, The Damascus Countdown, this week, but set aside fiction for a moment — the painful truth is that Syria is imploding. The bloodthirsty regime of Bashar al-Assad is slaughtering its own people, and steadily losing control of the country. The latest reports indicate that more than 20,000 Syrians have been murdered. Top Syrian officials are defecting. The rebels are steadily winning control of more and more of the country. Iran is sending forces to fight on behalf of the Assad regime against the rebels. Now Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly sending naval warships...

Opposition fighters battled Syrian government forces in Damascus into the early hours of Monday in what residents described as the fiercest fighting yet inside the capital.

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A senior member of Hamas was murdered in Damascus on Wednesday, Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Rishq announced. In a message posted to his Facebook page, al-Rishq said that the murdered member of Hamas is Kamal Ranaja, also known as Nizzar Abu-Mujhad. Al-Rishq said that Hamas will investigate the circumstances that led to Ranaja’s murder. Despite previously being close allies, there has been a rift between Hamas and the Syrian regime ever since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began. Reports surfaced as early as last May that Hamas is moving its headquarters from Damascus to Egypt and the terror group...

(AP) DAMASCUS, Syria - Two strong explosions shook the Syrian capital Thursday, sending a plume of thick black smoke into the sky. The explosions were in the Qazaz neighborhood, where a Syrian intelligence agency has its headquarters. The explosions happened just before 8 a.m., when employees are usually arriving at work. CBS News' George Baghdadi, reporting from the scene, says about 40 burned-out cars and possibly dozens of badly burned bodies were scattered in front of the intelligence office.

DAMASCUS -- Lebanese Hizbollah is an independent body which enjoys the protection of all Muslim states, Iran's Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mohmoud Hashemi Shahroudi told foreign reporters here on Sunday. Shahroudi also called on Muslim and Arab states to back the Lebanese resistant movement, IRNA reported. The U.S has adopted a double-standard policy in its war on terror and is using it as an 'excuse' to crush nations in support of the Israeli regime, Shahroudi said when asked by the Xinhua news agency. The Judiciary official further said that the Islamic Republic is working alongside Muslim and Arab states on a...

Syria says the year-long revolt to topple President Bashar al-Assad is now over, but it will keep its forces in cities to "maintain security" until it is safe to withdraw in keeping with a U.N.-backed peace deal. The agreement proposed by United Nations-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan says the Syrian authorities must be first to withdraw troops and stop violence immediately. The army kept up an offensive against opposition strongholds on Saturday, pummelling the Khalidiya district of Homs city. "Mortars are falling every minute and the sounds of explosions are shaking the neighborhood," an activist report said. A child...

Iran is providing a broad array of assistance to Syrian President Bashar Assad to help him suppress anti-government protests, from high-tech surveillance technology to guns and ammunition, U.S. and European security officials say. Tehran's technical assistance to Assad's security forces includes electronic surveillance systems, technology designed to disrupt efforts by protesters to communicate via social media, and Iranian-made drone aircraft for overhead surveillance, the officials said. They discussed intelligence matters on condition of anonymity. "Over the past year, Iran has provided security assistance to Damascus to help shore up Assad. Tehran during the last couple of months has been aiding...