India overtakes China as...

India overtakes China as world's biggest arms importer

(CNN) -- India has overtaken China as the world's biggest importer of weapons, with Asian nations the most aggressive consumers of military hardware, a new report says.

Between 2007 and 2011, India's business accounted for 10% of the global arms market, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). South Korea was next, accounting for 6% of sales, followed by Pakistan and China (5%) and Singapore (4%).

Siemon Wezeman, a senior analyst with SIPRI, said India's defense spending reflects its regional security concerns and Delhi's global aspirations.

"India procures arms in relation to its tense relationship with Pakistan and increasingly sees China as a potential threat," he told CNN. "It also wants to assert itself as a major regional or even global power."

Much of this expenditure has focused on the modernization of its armed forces with the purchase of fighter jets and warships, according to The Hindu. Read More

Car bomb hits Somali capital

(CNN) -- A car loaded with explosives rocked the Somali capital Wednesday, leaving one injured and damaging a house nearby, authorities said.

The blasts targeted K-4 square, which includes an intersection of roads that connect the airport to the city center.

African Union troops fighting militants in the nation are stationed near the square because of its strategic position, making it a major target in recent years.

Suspects detonated a car parked beside the square, said Mohamed Mohamud Garar, the local government official in charge of security.

Four suspects are in custody, including one caught with a remote control detonator in his hand, he said. 

Iraq bombings meant to target summit security, militant group says

Baghdad (CNN) -- A militant group with links to al Qaeda claimed responsibility for a deadly wave of bombings across Iraq, strikes designed to undermine government security plans for the upcoming Arab League summit.

The Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group that includes al Qaeda in Iraq, made the claim in a statement posted on an al Qaeda website. The explosions killed 45 people and wounded hundreds Tuesday.

Occurring on the ninth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the attacks were "coordinated" and launched by "Sunni lions" in Baghdad and other provinces "simultaneously," the online statement said. Sunni lions is an adulatory reference to militants.

The bombings were meant to target the security plan "of the government of fools inside the Green Zone, in preparation of the meeting of Arab tyrants in Baghdad," the statement said. The country is hosting the next Arab League summit March 29. Read More

Colombia: Dozens of guerrillas killed

Bogota, Colombia (CNN) -- Colombian authorities have killed dozens of leftist guerrillas in the past day, the nation's defense minister said Wednesday.

Operations throughout the country led to the killing of 39 suspected members the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the capture of a dozen others from the rebel group, Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon told reporters.

"This is one of the greatest blows (to the rebel group) in the last five years," Pinzon said.

One operation near the Venezuelan border led to the killing of 36 suspected rebels and the capture of five others, including a top leader of one faction of the rebel group, he said. Read More

Shaq Dumps Hoopz Security escorts her out

Shaq Dumps Hoops - Security Escorts Her Out of the Home (sources lipstick alley)

March 19, 2012: Well, we ALL knew it wouldn't last and now it's OFFICIALLY OVER. A MediaTakeOut.com insider tells us that Shaq and REALITY STAR HOOPZ are officially DONE!!!

According to our insider, it was NOTHING IN PARTICULAR that broke them up . . . Shaq had his fun, and it was time to KEEP IT PUSHIN!!! So we're told that Shaq BROKE THE NEWS to Nicole "Hoopz" Alexander his fiance TWO WEEKS AGO.

The insider told us, "Hoopz got emotional, and Shaq had to protect himself [from a lawsuit] . . . so he left the house and had [his security] help Hoopz gather her things and leave."

And Shaq has moved on ALRIGHTY!! This weekend he was spotted celebrating his 40th birthday in Las Vegas' hotspot PURE . . . . with some ASIAN chick.

Dang . . . hopefully Hoopz was able to stash some of Shaq's cash in a secret spot. Cause right now, she's back home in Tennessee trying to make things work.

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World's tallest man has stopped growing

Measuring in at 8-feet-3 inches, 29-year old Sultan Kosen hails from Turkey

Doctors say the world's tallest man has stopped growing after treatment in the United States. (AP)

Thanks to treatment by researchers at the University of Virginia Medical Center, the world's tallest man may have reached his peak.

Measuring at 8-feet-3 inches, 29-year-old Sultan Kosen of Turkey is listed in the 2011 Guinness World Records at the tallest living man.

Kosen visited the university in May 2010 for treatment for a disorder called acromegaly, which is usually caused by a tumor in the pituitary gland.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Kosen was placed on a new medication that could potentially help control the production of growth hormone and stop his continued growth. According to university officials, doctors in Turkey say Kosen has stopped growing.

SUICIDE BY CROCODILE

Man walked into croc-infested swamp after fight with girlfriend
(AGENCY)
Detectives believe a man was eaten alive after he walked into the crocodile-infested river following an argument with his girlfriend The Daily Mail reported that David Lubisi, a distressed farm worker may have committed suicide by wading into a crocodile-infested river, police in South Africa.
The father-of-three has not been seen for more than a week after apparently telling a colleague about his painful plan on April 7.
Sergeant Malesela Makgopa today said officers believed Mr Lubisi had died in a bizarre case of suicide.
Police said the local community had been shattered by the apparent tragedy, which happened near the town of Bushbuckbridge close to the famous Kruger National Park in South Africa's eastern Mpumalanga province.
The country's Sowetan newspaper today reported that the owner of a neighbouring property reported seeing a crocodile with a human leg protruding from its mouth four days after the incident.
Although the Lepelle is responsible for supplying millions of people with water it is feared among most locals for the presence of crocodiles.
The deadly reptiles are known to live in many African rivers, streams and lakes.
They can lurk unseen beneath the waters before striking suddenly to claim their prey.

FOR SALE: America's smallest town

Buford, Wyoming, town with population of 1, heads to auction

What's advertised as the smallest town in the United States is scheduled to go up for auction next month.

Buford, located between Cheyenne and Laramie in southeast Wyoming, is famous for having just one inhabitant, Don Sammons.

Sammons plans to retire from managing his businesses at Buford and move on. The auction is set for noon on April 5.

Buford traces its origins the 1860s and the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad and had as many as 2,000 residents before the railroad was rerouted.

Sammons and his family moved from Los Angeles to Buford in 1980. Family members moved away over the years, but Sammons stayed on as sole resident and "mayor" of the unincorporated community. He bought the trading post in 1992 and operated it until last year.

"It was a great life for me and for my family," he said, adding it would be the same for anyone looking for a unique operation.

Buford sits at an elevation of 8,000 feet and is the highest town along Interstate 80 between New York and California. The area offers impressive views of the Rocky Mountains but is prone to extreme winds and frigid temperatures - even by Wyoming standards.

Foul weather shuts down I-80 between Cheyenne and Laramie at least a couple times during a typical winter. Each time that happens, Buford might as well be at the North Pole rather than next to one of the busiest cross-country thoroughfares in the U.S.

Assets up for sale will include a gas station and convenience store, a 1905 schoolhouse that has been used as an office, a cabin, a garage, 10 acres of land, a three-bedroom home, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported.

Buford has its own ZIP code and post office boxes for people who live nearby.

It's a business opportunity that also offers a romantic lifestyle, said Amy Bates, chief marketing officer for Oklahoma City, Okla.-based Williams and Williams, which is handling the auction. Bidding will open at $100,000, she said.

"We're going to have a variety of people attracted to this property, based on what it would mean to them," Bates said.

Trigger-Happy Neighborhood Watch Shooter Wanted To Be A Cop; Was Fixated On Crime And Focused On Young, Black Males

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As the investigation continues into the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a picture of his 28-year-old killer George Zimmerman has emerged as a wannabe cop who was obsessed with young black men he felt were targeting his neighborhood.

Licensed to carry a firearm and a student of criminal justice, Zimmerman went door-to-door asking residents to be on the lookout, specifically referring to young black men who appeared to be outsiders, and warned that some were caught lurking, neighbors said. The self-appointed captain of the neighborhood watch program is credited with cracking some crimes, and thwarting others.
But the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin left the boy’s family and attorneys convinced that the volunteer developed a twisted sense of entitlement, one that gave him a false sense of authority to enforce the rule of law in his tiny gated community. Trayvon’s family’s attorneys believe that led to racial profiling and murder.
“He would circle the block and circle it; it was weird,” said Teontae Amie, 17. “If he had spotted me, he’d probably ask me if I lived here. He was known for being really strict.”
Zimmerman called police 46 times since Jan. 1, 2011 to report disturbances, break-ins, windows left open and other incidents. Nine of those times, he saw someone or something suspicious.
“Hey, we’ve had some break-ins in my neighborhood, and there’s a real suspicious guy at Retreat View Circle. This guy looks like he’s up to no good,” Zimmerman told a dispatcher on Feb. 26, the night of Trayvon’s death.
According to 911 recordings released late Friday by Sanford police, Zimmerman said the person was walking slowly, looked drugged and appeared to be looking at people’s houses. Police would later learn that Trayvon had gone to 7-Eleven during the NBA All Star game halftime to get Skittles and Arizona iced tea.
“These a–holes always get away,” Zimmerman complained.
What happened next is unclear, and has already reverberated nationwide. Calls to 911 alerted police to a scuffle and someone crying for help. In one, the chilling howl stopped after the clear, crisp blast of a bullet. Trayvon was lying face down on the ground near a pathway that runs through the townhouse community.
One 911 caller sobbed to the dispatcher over not having helped the young man who wailed.
Zimmerman told police that was him crying for help and that Trayvon started the fight. He claimed self-defense and was not charged, flaring deep-seated racial tensions between blacks and police, who have a long history of distrust. On at least two prior occasions, the Sanford Police Department was accused of giving favorable treatment to relatives of officers involved in violent encounters with blacks.
In 2010, police waited seven weeks to arrest a lieutenant’s son who was caught on video sucker-punching a homeless black man.
In 2005, two security guards — one the son of a longtime Sanford police officer and the other a department volunteer — killed a black man they said was trying to run them over. Black leaders complained of a lackluster investigation. The guards ultimately were acquitted.
“Zimmerman felt he was one of them; he felt he was a cop,” said Trayvon’s family attorney, Natalie Jackson, who accuses the police of protecting him.
The recent shooting raised troubling questions about whether the homeowners association knew its volunteer was armed with a Kel Tek 9mm semiautomatic handgun. Many residents — black and white — question Zimmerman’s judgment and wonder why he would have engaged the teenager at all.
“He once caught a thief and an arrest was made,” said Cynthia Wibker, secretary of the homeowners association. “He helped solve a lot of crimes.”
Zimmerman told neighbors about stolen laptops and unsavory characters. Ibrahim Rashada, a 25-year-old African American who works at U.S. Airways, once spotted young men cutting through the woods entering the complex on foot, and later learned items were stolen those days.
“It’s a gated community, but you can walk in and steal whatever you want,” Rashada’s wife, Quianna, said.
They discussed the topic with Zimmerman when the watch captain knocked on their door late last year. Zimmerman seemed friendly, helpful, and a “pretty cool dude,” Ibrahim Rashada said.
“He came by here and talked about carrying guns and getting my wife more involved with guns,” he said. “He said I should have a weapon and that his wife took classes to learn how to use one.
“I do have a weapon, but I don’t walk around the neighborhood with mine!”
Actually, he does not walk around the neighborhood at all.
“I fit the stereotype he emailed around,” he said. “Listen, you even hear me say it: ‘A black guy did this. A black guy did that.’ So I thought, ‘Let me sit in the house. I don’t want anyone chasing me.’ ”
Travis Williams, a black 16-year-old who wears dreadlocks, said last year a man came to his house and accused him of stealing a bicycle. The police even came and checked the serial numbers on the bike in his garage.
Problems in the 6-year-old community started during the recession, when foreclosures forced owners to rent out to “low-lifes and gangsters,” said Frank Taaffe, a former neighborhood block captain.
“Just two weeks before this shooting, George called me at my girlfriend’s house to say he saw some black guy doing surveillance at my house, because I had a left a window open,” Taaffe said. “He thwarted a potential burglary of my house.”

It sounds like the residents were almost prisoners in their own homes, living in fear of Zimmerman even before this happened to Trayvon.

In a statement delivered to the Orlando Sentinel, his father, Robert Zimmerman, defended his son, who he said was a “Spanish-speaking minority with many black family members and friends.”
“He would be the last to discriminate for any reason whatsoever,” Robert Zimmerman wrote. “One black neighbor recently interviewed said she knew everything in the media was untrue and that she would trust George with her life. Another black neighbor said that George was the only one, black or white, who came and welcomed her to the community, offering any assistance he could provide. Recently, I met two black children George invited to a social event. I asked where they met George. They responded that he was their mentor.”
He said the family prays for Trayvon and his parents every day.
At no time, the father wrote, did George Zimmerman follow or confront Trayvon, although the recording of the call to police shows the dispatcher asking him, “Are you following him?” and Zimmerman answered, “yeah.”
“We don’t need you to do that,” the police dispatcher said.
Police volunteer program coordinator Wendy Dorival said she met Zimmerman in September at a community neighborhood watch presentation.
“I said, ‘If it’s someone you don’t recognize, call us. We’ll figure it out,’ ” Dorival said. “‘Observe from a safe location.’ There’s even a slide about not being vigilante police. I don’t know how many more times I can repeat it.”
Police Chief Bill Lee said that although police do not encourage watch program volunteers to carry weapons, he recognizes a citizen’s constitutional right to do so. No arrest was made, Lee said, because there was no evidence to disprove Zimmerman’s account.

Please go HERE to sign a petition that the Martin family has started to get the Florida District Attorney Norman Wolfinger to further investigate Trayvon’s murder!

03/19/2012

NATO failed to investigate airstrike casualties in Libya

(CNN) -- A leading human rights organization accused NATO on Monday of failing to investigate civilian deaths caused by its air strikes in Libya that aided in the downfall of Moammar Gadhafi.

In a 20-page report titled "Libya: The Forgotten Victims of NATO Strikes," Amnesty International laid out allegations that NATO and the new Libyan government failed not only to document the deaths but has not paid reparations to the victims and their families.

The report said "scores of Libyan civilians who did not directly participate in hostilities were killed and many more injured as a result of NATO strikes," adding that the 28-member nation alliance has yet to address the incidents in the months since it ended the air campaign.

NATO did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment, though it apparently defended its actions in a letter to Amnesty International.

"While NATO did everything possible to minimize the risk to civilians, in a complex military operation that risk cannot be reduced to zero," NATO said in response to an inquiry by the rights group, according to the report. Read More

Why Syria Won't Get the Libya Treatment from the West

One year ago, on March 19, 2011, Western leaders, alarmed by the disaster unfolding in Libya, voted in the U.N. Security Council to intervene militarily with "all necessary means," arguing that they could not stand by and watch civilians get massacred.

As a result of the U.N. resolution, NATO launched a bombing campaign, led by Britain, France and the U.S., and flew about 10,000 bombing sorties over Libya, helping to obliterate Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year dictatorship in just seven months.

So, could it happen in Syria? Probably not, according to two reports out on Monday. Both suggest that the Western powers would face significantly bigger challenges in intervening against President Bashar Assad, both politically and militarily, than they did in Libya. Says the British military think tank Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) in a report marking the anniversary of the U.N. vote: "The Libya intervention took place in a singularly unique moment where the international stars, as it were, were aligned in a set of propitious circumstances."

Unlike Gaddafi, Assad has hugely upgraded his air- and sea-attack capabilities since the revolt against him erupted a year ago, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which tracks the opaque defense industry. In its yearly report on global arms transfers, also to be published on Monday, SIPRI lists billions spent by Assad on state-of-the-art Russian systems, much of which has been delivered during the past year. "This is a major upgrade," says Paul Holtom, SIPRI senior researcher on arms transfers. "Any discussions about an air attack on Syria would be more challenging than it would have been previously." Read More

Al Qaeda leader's brother to be freed in Egypt

Cairo (CNN) -- Mohamed al-Zawahiri, brother of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, will be freed from prison in Egypt after 13 years, his attorney said Monday.

He was acquitted by an Egyptian military court and will be released Tuesday, said attorney Nizar Ghorab.

Mohamed al-Zawahiri was imprisoned in 1999 after being detained and extradited from the United Arab Emirates on allegations that he was linked to the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. Al-Zawahiri was acquitted on the assassination charges but later was accused of conspiring against the Egyptian government.

He was sentenced to death, but then appealed the ruling.

Last year, Egypt's interim government released him along with scores of other political prisoners after a general pardon was issued by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which ruled the country after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. But al-Zawahiri was arrested again shortly after. Read More

Red Cross Asks Russia For Help On Syria Aid

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said it has been given "positive indications" from Russia that it will help them secure more access for humanitarian aid for Syrian civilians.

ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger met Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Monday.

ICRC spokeswoman Carla Haddad Mardini said the organisation "received positive indications of support on its operational priorities and on its initiative of a two-hour cessation in fighting on a daily basis".

The Red Cross has yet to receive permission from Syria to access all parts of the country affected by fighting. Damascus has also yet to agree to a daily two-hour cease-fire requested by the group.

Russia is one of President Bashar al Assad's few remaining allies and is seen as retaining some leverage on the Damascus government.

Earlier, heavy machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades have been heard in Damascus as fighting broke out in a district where a number of security buildings are located, witnesses say.

Residents said the two-hour battle, apparently between security forces loyal to President Assad and opposition fighters, was intense. Read More

Secret files reveal 9,000 Nazi war criminals fled to South America after WWII

Nine thousand Nazi war criminals fled to South America after the Second World War, it has been revealed for the first time.

After receiving tip-offs, German prosecutors were recently granted access to secret files in Brazil and Chile that confirmed the true number of Third Reich immigrants.

According to the documents, an estimated 9,000 war criminals escaped to South America, including Croatians, Ukrainians, Russians and other western Europeans who aided the Nazi murder machine.

Most, perhaps as many as 5,000, went to Argentina; between 1,500 and 2,000 are thought to have made it to Brazil; around 500 to 1,000 to Chile; and the rest to Paraguay and Uruguay.

These numbers do not include several hundred more who fled to the safety of right-wing regimes in the Middle East.

Previous estimates as to how many Nazis fled to South America have varied wildly from 5,000 to 300,000. Read More

Defiant North Korea says rocket launch to go ahead

North Korea on Sunday rejected criticism of its planned long-range missile launch which threatens to upset its only major benefactor, China, and put relations with the United States back in the freezer just as they seemed to be starting to thaw.

Political analysts say the launch, which would violate U.N. resolutions on the heavily sanctioned state, is aimed at boosting the legitimacy of its young new ruler Kim Jong-un who inherited power after his father's death in December.

"The peaceful development and use of space is a universally recognized legitimate right of a sovereign state," the North's state KCNA news agency said.

North Korea says it is using the rocket to launch a satellite to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, the country's founding ruler and grandfather of the current ruler.

The United States, and others, say it is much the same as a ballistic missile test and therefore off-limits for the isolated state which has for years been trying to build a nuclear arsenal.

Washington, which last month agreed to supply North Korea with food in exchange for a suspension of nuclear tests, missile launches and uranium enrichment and to allow nuclear inspectors into the country, called the planned launch "highly provocative". more

Tornadoes strike Nebraska

Tornadoes strike Nebraska, flipping tractor-trailer and rail cars

Severe storms overnight in Nebraska, Texas and Ohio damaged homes and tossed rail cars as well as at least one tractor-trailer, and the threat continued Monday with a large part of the central U.S. on alert.

The greatest damage overnight was just outside North Platte, Neb., where two confirmed tornadoes tore roofs off several homes, downed power lines and injured two people.

One twister crossed Interstate 80, flipping a tractor-trailer in its path. The truck's driver was hospitalized.

A rail yard also was hit, with 15 cars derailed or knocked over, the North Platte Telegraph reported. One worker there was hit by flying debris, treated at a hospital and then released. Read More

Florida Crazies Mugshot Hall Of Fame

Florida Crazies Mugshot Hall Of Fame: See Some Of The Sunshine State’s Most Maniacal- By Bossip

Roger Whitt

Roger here has been arrested nine times in the last year alone. This particular mugshot was taken after he was arrested for possession or use of narcotic equipment.

Rhonda Harrison

Despite it being her fourth arrest in five months Rhonda Harrison looks surprised to be having her picture taken at the local police station.
Rhonda, 28, was arrested on charges of violating her probation – it was her third arrest for grand theft last year.

Michael Baumbach

39-Year-Old Michael Baumbach has been arrested six times in less than two years, but this particular arrest on March 1st was for assault, which also counted as probation violation since he was already in trouble with the law.

Kenneth Monte

Kenneth Monte, 42, has 24 charges under his belt, including criminal mischief, aggressive battery, driving under the influence and reckless driving.
One of Monte’s run-ins with the law involved him crashing his car and suffering serious neck injuries, which is why he wears a neck-brace in his mugshot.
It gives him a rather distinctive look.

Jonathan McMillin

Jonathan McMillin looks pretty cocky in his first couple of mugshots but the most recent shot shows him looking less pleased with himself having suffered serious injuries.
The 24-year-old was arrested on charges of having never had a driver’s licence. He was charged weeks earlier for assault and tampering with a witness.

North Korea vows to go ahead with rocket launch plans

Syrian regime staged deadly attacks in Damascus, rebel captain says

(CNN) -- A Syrian rebel leader vehemently refuted the government's claim that so-called "terrorists" -- not the regime itself -- launched a series of explosions in Damascus that killed dozens.

"This is the regime's game. This is how they play their dirty tricks. They carry out these types of explosions from time to time to get more international support and compassion," Capt. Ammar al-Wawi of the rebel Syrian Free Army said Sunday. "They are desperately trying to prove to the world that they are fighting against armed gangs, but the reality is they are the ones who are doing all the killings."

Two explosions rocked parts of Damascus on Saturday, including Syrian government facilities, state-run media reported.

The Syrian Arab News Agency said 27 people were killed after two "booby-trapped" cars exploded in crowded areas in the capital. The blasts also injured 140 people and caused serious damage to surrounding buildings, SANA said. Read More

North Korea vows to go ahead with rocket launch plans

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- North Korea says it will go ahead with plans to launch an observation satellite into space and that criticism of it is provocative.

North Korea said Friday it would launch the satellite on a rocket next month. The U.S., South Korea and Japan condemn the plan as a disguised test of military missiles because the same type of rocket is used to launch long-range missiles.

Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said Sunday such criticism is a "sinister" provocation by "hostile forces."

It says North Korea has a right to peaceful development in space.

The North says the hostile forces are "sadly mistaken" if they think it will cancel the launch plans.

Pyongyang said Saturday it has notified international agencies of its plans. Source

Japan starts mulling plan on intercepting N. Korean rocket

OMITAMA (Kyodo) -- Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka said Saturday that his ministry has started considering whether to take preparatory measures to destroy the rocket-mounted satellite North Korea is preparing to launch next month.

The ministry is considering whether to deploy ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors and Aegis-equipped destroyers carrying Standard Missile-3 ballistic missile interceptors, Tanaka told reporters at the Air Self-Defense Force's Hyakuri air base in Omitama, Ibaraki Prefecture.

"We are currently doing a mental exercise to prepare (for the planned rocket launch), using the previous incident as our guide," Tanaka said, referring to the government's decision at the time of the launch of long-range ballistic missile by Pyongyang in April 2009.

In March 2009, Yasukazu Hamada, defense minister at the time, issued an order for the Self-Defense Forces to destroy a North Korean rocket or its debris in the event that it fell onto Japanese territory. Read More

wo 'terrorist bombs' kill 27 civilians and police in Syrian capital

Two 'terrorist bombs' killed civilians and police in the Syrian capital Damascus today, leaving the streets stained with blood and littered with mangled corpses.

The blasts were caused by car bombs that hit security targets at around 7.30am today, according to state news agency SANA.

Gruesome images of charred bodies and twisted steel were circulated as Sky News said 27 people died in the explosions.

The city's aviation intelligence department and criminal security department were the targets of the attacks, SANA claimed, although rebels say the bombings were a government plot to discredit them.

A year into the Syrian revolt, the fight to oust President Bashar Assad is transforming into a nascent civil war.

The government says it is fighting foreign terrorists and armed gangs and denies there is widespread support for the rebels. Read More

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