Hama

Syrian cartoonist Akram Raslan was arrested by Syrian authorities on October 2, 2012 in Hama. He was last seen on July 26, 2013. Reports that he is now dead have been impossible to verify and many hold out hope that he is still alive.

News that a detained Syrian cartoonist is dead is still impossible to verify

Arts, Culture & Media

A Syrian cartoonist is arrested in October 2012 and disappears into the security services of Bashar al Assad. Now there are reports that the cartoonist died in prison, the cause described as everything from torture to an untreated illness. But not everyone buys the story. A dialogue begins on Facebook and Twitter about whether the cartoonist is really dead. His family — and many friends and colleagues — says he’s still alive though they haven’t seen or heard from him since the cartoonist was detained. Who to believe? That’s the morose challenge for relatives, friends and colleagues of those arrested in war-torn Syria.

Japan government on nuclear crisis: Not lying, not telling the truth

Global Politics

New Massacre in Syria

Global Politics
The World

UK & US Implicated in Rendition of Libyans

Conflict & Justice

Syria Protester: ‘Friends are Falling on the Ground in Front of Our Eyes’

Conflict & Justice
The World

Syria: The Limits of Intervention

Global Politics

Syria’s deputy oil minister appeared in a YouTube video to defect from the Assad regime. Anchor Marco Werman brings us up to date on that and other events in Syria today.

Update on Syria as Violence Continues

As part of The Takeaway’s week-long focus on Syria, Ayat Shukairy, a listener from Detroit, joins the program to share updates from her family and friends currently living in Damascus, Homs, and Hama.  Syrian government forces have reportedly stepped up their attacks on the besieged city of Homs. Roads in and out of parts of the […]

The Hama Massacre: 30 Years Later

Back in February 1982, then-Syrian President Hafez al-Assad unleashed his troops on the city of Hama in an attempt to wipe out the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters. The Massacre lasted for a month and tens of thousands of Syrians lost their lives. Now the Syrian people are rising against the current president Bashar al-Assad […]

Group Says Syria Attacks Protesters as Monitors Arrive

An opposition group said Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters in a Damascus suburb on Thursday, the latest incident of violence since Arab League peace monitors arrived in the country. Activists say over 20 people were injured outside the Grand Mosque in the Douma suburb, and two were killed. Eight other deaths were reported […]

Ex-Attorney-General Bakkour ‘Survives Attack’

Conflict & Justice

The former attorney-general in Hama who disappeared last week has survived an attack.