Clashes in Syria as Arab monitors embolden protesters

Syrian security forces have reportedly opened fire to stop tens of thousands of protesters holding rallies in front of visiting Arab League observers.

Activists say at least 35 people were killed in flashpoint cities like Hama, Deraa and Homs, all of whom were being visited by League monitors.

Running battles were fought at one of the largest rallies, in the Damascus suburb of Douma.

Security forces were accused of firing live rounds, nail bombs and teargas.

Meanwhile, Syrian state media showed pictures of what it said were pro-government rallies in several cities, including Damascus, with protesters showing their anger at a foreign-orchestrated “plot” that is “targeting Syria’s stability and security”.

The UN says more than 5,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March. The government says 2,000 security forces personnel have died.

Casualty figures and other information are hard to verify as most foreign media are barred from reporting freely in Syria.

Around 60 monitors from the Arab League are visiting Syria to verify the implementation of a peace initiative, which demands an end to all violence, the withdrawal of troops from the streets and the release of political prisoners.

Correspondents say their presence emboldened the opposition to call on people leaving Friday prayers to join the rallies and show the scale of anti-government anger.

As many as 250,000 people took to the streets in the north-western province of Idlib, and huge rallies were also held in the cities of Hama, Homs, Deraa and in several Damascus suburbs, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

US says Egypt agrees to stop raids on democracy groups

Egypt has reassured the US that it will stop raids on the offices of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the US State Department says.

Officials said property seized in the raids would be returned to the groups, which include two based in the US.

Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has spoken to Egypt’s military ruler by phone to discuss the issue, they added.

Egypt raided the offices of 17 NGOs in Cairo on Thursday, after expressing concern over foreign funding.

The country’s ruling military council has said repeatedly it will not tolerate foreign interference in the country’s affairs.

But the US reacted sharply to the move, condemning it as an attack on democratic values and hinting that it could review the $1.3bn (£0.84bn) in annual US military aid to Cairo if such incidents continued.

On Friday, Mr Panetta and the US ambassador to Egypt, Anne Patterson, spoke to top Egyptian officials including military ruler Field Marshall Mohamed Tantawi, the US State Department said.

“The ambassador has sought and received Egyptian leadership assurances that the raids will cease and property will be returned immediately,” spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in emailed comments.

“She has also made clear that we expect all international NGOs, including those that receive US government support, be able to return to normal operations as soon as possible in support of the democratic transition under way in Egypt.”

David Kramer, the director of the US human rights watchdog Freedom House, told the BBC that while the reassurance was welcome, it was not enough to undo the damage.

Mr Kramer, whose office was among those raided, said some of his seized property had still not been returned.

Succession in North Korea - Grief and fear

It seems unlikely that Kim Jong Un will want to reform North Korea, but even less likely that the regime can go on resisting change.

If North Korea were not so tragic and dangerous, the scenes broadcast to the world after the funeral of Kim Jong Il would have been comic.

Waves of mourners outdid each other in grief. Men, women and children tore at their clothes in homage to a man who for 17 years kept his people in a state of isolation, poverty and indoctrination unparalleled in the modern world.

According to the state news agency, “even the sky seemed to writhe in grief” at the demise of the “great saint born of Heaven”. There was pathetic gratitude when tin mugs of warm milk were put into trembling hands—proof, it was reported, of the solicitousness of Kim Jong Un, third son of the “Dear Leader” and heir to his murderous regime.

In his glass coffin, the dead Kim had lain in the Kumsusan mausoleum, his head on a white cushion, his body draped in a red blanket whose colour matched the flowers—his cherished B egonia kimjongilia that surrounded his corpse.