By Ace NunezJust last month in the city of As-Suwayda in southwestern Syria, protests broke out against president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad. The protests, mostly led by the religious minority, the Druze, have been spreading across southern Syria, calling for the removal of al-Assad. The main cause of the protests have been the economic suffering experienced by many Syrians. Even though the civil war that has plagued the country has slowed down in recent times, the economy is still struggling. Just one U.S dollar is equal to 13,001.6 Syrian Pounds. The protestors claim President al-Assad is at fault for the economic hardship, along with many other issues they have with him and his regime, such as a lack of human rights given to the people, and most especially to minority groups like the Druze. Protestors have begun chanting “bread, freedom and dignity” to demonstrate their demands. As the protests rapidly spread across the country, local authorities have begun cracking down, with some reports of shots being fired at the protestors. Some commentators believe these protests and demonstrations are the beginning of a second revolution against the Syrian government, mirroring the Arab Spring uprisings and beginning of the civil war in 2011.
These events are relatively unique, as the southwestern region had usually always been supportive of the al-Assad regime, however these protests show that Assad’s grip on the nation is continuing to slip away from him. As of now, no statement has been made by Assad, and his party, the Ba’ath Party, has closed its headquarters for the time being.
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By Aaron ManingoAt 11:11 PM a 6.8 Magnitude Earthquake struck the North African country of Morocco leaving 2,901 people dead with many still unaccounted for. Morocco has had its fair share of earthquakes in the past, however none of the earthquakes were as deadly as this with the second deadliest being in 1960. When the quake killed roughly more than 12,000 people. According to the US Geological Survey it’s uncommon for an earthquake of that size to appear in the region.
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October 2023
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