SYRIA: People flee crackdown on rebel stronghold.
Terrified Syrians ran for their lives Wednesday as elite army units swept through a restive northern province, expanding a deadly operation to crush signs of dissent against President Bashar Assad. Farther south, tens of thousands took to the streets in the central city of Hama to show solidarity with victims of the military crackdown.
TURKEY: Jolie requests visit with Syrian refugees.
Turkey says Angelina Jolie wants to visit Syrian refugees who have fled violence and are camped out on the Turkish side of the border.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal said Wednesday that an application to visit the refugees has been made on behalf of the Hollywood celebrity and goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
Turkey says more than 8,500 Syrians have fled to Turkey to escape a crackdown on an anti-government uprising.
YEMEN: Extremists’ hold on key city proves temporary.
Al-Qaeda-linked militants temporarily seized parts of a provincial capital in southern Yemen, the latest in a series of brazen attacks by extremists taking advantage of the turmoil in the poor Arab nation. The increasingly bold fighters are expanding their reach after wounded President Ali Abdullah Saleh left Yemen for Saudi Arabia and cast the country into deeper chaos. Their gains in a nearly lawless region of southern Yemen lend urgency to U.S. efforts to bolster military capabilities that can be used to strike at the terrorist network.
LIBYA: British leader says end is near for Gadhafi forces.
Britain’s prime minister said Tuesday that time is running out for Moammar Gadhafi’s forces, as the Libyan government tried to deny reports that rebels are making fresh gains toward the capital. Further rebel successes in the four-month uprising will depend heavily on NATO air power, which has grounded Gadhafi’s air forces and weakened his other military capabilities.
EGYPT: Antiquities chief won’t be sent to prison.
An appeals court cleared Egypt’s antiquities minister of failing to implement a court order, sparing the international face of Egyptian archaeology from a year in prison. Besides the legal challenge, Zahi Hawass has found himself at the center of other trouble since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak in February. Critics accused Hawass of being too close to Mubarak.
Denver Post wire services
