Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

Red Cross and Red Crescent rescue crews evacuated a few wounded and sick women and children from the besieged Syrian city of Homs on Feb. 24, even as Syrian government forces continued shelling parts of the city—especially the neighborhood of Baba Amr, a bastion of antigovernment sentiment. The civilian evacuations came as representatives of world powers met in Tunisia and called for a political solution in Syria, as well as what one diplomat called a “tsunami wave” of pressure that would peel away internal support for the embattled regime. Homs has now endured almost four weeks of Syrian army attacks with artillery and heavy weapons. Hundreds have been killed or wounded and neighborhoods demolished. Residents have been living in makeshift shelters and were running low on food, medical and other supplies. The Syrian opposition claims more than 8,000 people have been killed since the uprising began last March, and a U.N. report released on Feb. 23 accused the Assad regime of “crimes against humanity.”

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” which turns 75 this year, was a huge hit by any commercial or critical standard. In 1949, it pulled off an unprecedented trifecta, winning the New York Drama Circle Critics’ Award, the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. So attention must be paid!
James T. KeaneApril 23, 2024
In Part II of his exclusive interview with Gerard O’Connell, the rector of the soon-to-be integrated Gregorian University describes his mission to educate seminarians who are ‘open to growth.’
Gerard O’ConnellApril 23, 2024
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, center, holds his crozier during Mass at the Our Lady of Peace chapel in the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center on April 13, 2024. (OSV News photo/Sinan Abu Mayzer, Reuters)
My recent visit to the Holy Land revealed fear and depression but also the grit and resilience of a people to whom the prophets preached and for whom Jesus wept.
Timothy Michael DolanApril 23, 2024
The Gregorian’s American-born rector, Mark Lewis, S.J., describes how three Jesuit academic institutes in Rome will be integrated to better serve a changing church.
Gerard O’ConnellApril 22, 2024