By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
Syria's foreign minister defiantly dismissed rebel forces and their international backers on Thursday as incapable of toppling the military defending Bashar Assad's regime, even as condemnation grew over expanded offensives that activists say have claimed dozens of civilian lives in recent days.
The Syrian prime minister who defected said Tuesday that Bashar Assad's regime is near collapse and urged other leaders to tip the scales and join the rebel side.
The Syrian prime minister who defected to the opposition said Tuesday that President Bashar Assad's regime was near collapse and urged other political and military leaders to tip the scales and join the rebel side.
Syria's top diplomat in London said he could no longer represent the regime and defected Monday, as civilians fled the commercial hub of Aleppo in droves amid 10 days of fierce battles between rebels and government forces.
The Syrian government will allow the United Nations to assess the basic medical needs of Syrians in four areas where opposition forces have clashed with government troops and to also carry out a preliminary humanitarian needs assessment, officials said Friday.
The leader of Syria's main opposition group rejected calls Friday by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan for dialogue with President Bashar Assad's government, saying such talks are pointless and unrealistic as long as the regime massacres its own people.
The U.N. humanitarian chief got the first look inside the shattered district of Baba Amr on Wednesday but found most people already had fled the rebellious neighborhood in Homs following a devastating military siege.
Syrian refugees fleeing to neighboring Lebanon on Monday said they feared they would be slaughtered in their homes as government forces hunted down opponents in a brutal offensive against the opposition stronghold of Homs.
Syrian refugees fleeing to neighboring Lebanon on Monday said they feared they would be slaughtered in their own homes as government forces hunted down opponents in a brutal offensive against the opposition stronghold of Homs.
Syrian troops advanced Wednesday on a key rebel-held neighborhood in Homs, and an official vowed it would be "cleansed," raising fears of a ground operation to retake all of the central city, which has become a symbol of the uprising to oust President Bashar Assad.
Scythe in hand, a woman slices through a bright green field of rice. Oxen plod down country roads pulling carts piled high with harvested stalks of grain.
Primitive farming techniques; a lack of arable land in a rugged, mountainous country; and the suspected diversion of food to military and ruling party elites have contributed to widespread hunger in North Korea's poorest areas, aid groups say.
U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos arrived in North Korea on Monday to get a look at the country's chronic food shortage.
On Saturday, South Sudan will become the world's newest nation, with Juba — a dusty town where paved roads are a luxury and most buildings are prefabricated structures — as its capital. Despite the celebratory mood that pervades the city, southern officials are aware of the challenges that lie ahead.
A severe drought has plunged millions of Somalis into crisis after rains failed for several consecutive seasons in this Horn of Africa nation, and the U.N. and aid groups are warning of the possibility of a looming catastrophe.
"Just in the last two months, over 250,000 people have fled into neighboring countries. These numbers, they are not sustainable," she said at a press conference in Geneva.
U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance has quadrupled since June last year.
