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Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN) — An 80-year-old Japanese man on Thursday became the oldest person to reach the top of Mt. Everest, officials said.

Yuichiro Miura reached the top of Everest Thursday morning with his physician son Gota, mountaineering official Gyanendra Shrestha said from the base of Everest.

Miura’s achievement eclipses that of a Nepali man who climbed Everest at age 76 in 2008.

The oldest woman to climb Everest is also a Japanese. She was 73 when she reached the top last year.

First Saudi woman climbs Mount Everest

Sherpas, climbers sign Everest treaty

Miura broke his hip in an accident two years ago, and he underwent heart surgery in January.

“I am still healthy and strong. I think I have a good chance to reach the summit of Everest,” he said via phone earlier this month.

To prepare, Miura walked three times a week with loads of 25 to 30 kilograms (55 to 66 lbs) on his back.

He reached the top of the 8,848-meter (29,035-foot) peak twice before: in 2003 at age 70, and in 2008 at age 75.

“I have a dream to climb Everest at this age,” he said. “If you have a dream, never give up. Dreams come true.”

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the first expedition to reach the summit of Everest: Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay made it to the top of the mountain on May 29, 1953.

Earlier this month, a 27-year-old graphic designer has made history by becoming the first Saudi woman to conquer the mount.

READ: A fight at 23,000 feet? Climbers accuse Sherpas of Mount Everest attack

READ: Childhood dream leads climber up Everest — twice in one week

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_world/~3/SumQrVUM5ec/index.html

(CNN) — Sweden’s capital endured a fourth consecutive night of rioting Wednesday, with fires and clashes with authorities decreasing in the original flashpoint in the northern suburbs but increasing to the south, police said.

Rioters continued to set fires to vehicles and other structures in Stockholm and suburbs, and they pelted responding firefighters and police with rocks and other objects, Stockholm police press officer Kjell Lindgren said Thursday.

Early media reports said the four days of riots, which started in the high-unemployment, low-income northern suburb of Husby on Sunday, might have been triggered by last week’s shooting death of a man by police. But police said Wednesday they were not sure of the cause.

Among Wednesday’s incidents: Rioters set fire to a restaurant and tried to burn two police stations, Lindgren said. The fires at the police stations were extinguished before the stations were destroyed.

“In the southern parts of our city … we’ve seen an increase in violence, and most of our police officers and firemen who were working overnight have said that this has been very difficult, with so many incidents in so many places,” Lindgren said.

He said 10 fires were set in the northern Stockholm area overnight, but he didn’t have a number for the southern suburbs. The Local, an English-language online newspaper, reported that Stockholm’s fire service had responded to at least 75 incidents throughout the city by 2 a.m. Thursday.

Police were so busy escorting firefighters, “we’ve only had time to arrest one person” overnight — a 16-year-old girl on suspicion of preparing arson, Lindgren said. Eight people were arrested in Husby on Tuesday night, according to police.

More than 100 vehicles were set on fire Sunday night just in Husby, police said. Another 29 were set on fire Tuesday night in the wider district, they said.

Husby is an area that has a lot of problems and a high crime rate, according to Lindgren.

Tensions have been brewing since May 13, when police shot dead a 69-year-old Husby man who had a machete, The Local newspaper said.

On Wednesday, Stockholm police spokesman Lars Bystrom told CNN that authorities weren’t sure why the riots began.

“We have … heard the reports that some are making the connection to the 69-year-old man who was shot dead by police this past Monday on May 13 in his apartment after he threatened police with a machete, and the officers attending felt their life was in danger and had to react,” Bystrom said. “But we don’t know for sure what is actually behind this. At this point, it is pure speculation.

“It would be very unfortunate if we started hesitating to go in when serious incidents happen because of this.”

The Local also quoted a local youth leader as saying some police officers used racial slurs against residents Sunday as the trouble flared. Bystrom said Wednesday that police are investigating “possible use of inappropriate language or excessive use of force.”

The disorder led Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt to issue a statement Tuesday appealing for calm.

“We have had two nights of great worry, damage to property and a threatening mood in Husby. There is a risk that it will continue. Now everyone must help out to calm things down,” he said.

“We have groups of young men who believe one should and can change our society through violence. We cannot let violence govern.”

Reinfeldt said the trouble reflects a broader problem in Swedish society: More should be done to support education and help young people into work, he said.

CNN’s Jason Hanna, Stephanie Halasz and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report.

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_world/~3/iVamxar1m2E/index.html

San Salvador, El Salvador (CNN) — A 22-year-old woman in El Salvador, pregnant and suffering from illnesses, has become a flashpoint in the country’s debate on abortion.

The life of the woman, known only as “Beatriz,” is in danger if the pregnancy goes full term, but abortion is illegal in El Salvador with no exceptions, women’s rights groups say.

Anti-abortion groups counter that Beatriz is being used by abortion-rights advocates as an opening to push for changes to abortion laws.

Beatriz’s case is not the first time that risk to a mother’s life has created an abortion controversy in Latin America and the Caribbean. Last year, a young woman in the Dominican Republic was denied chemotherapy to treat her leukemia for weeks because of the risk it posed to her unborn child. She eventually began receiving treatment, but both she and her fetus died.

In Beatriz’s case, she is suffering from lupus and kidney problems, and her unborn child developed without parts of its brain or skull. She asked for an abortion so that doctors could focus on saving her life, but doctors are hesitant to carry out the procedure without assurances that they won’t be prosecuted.

The country’s Supreme Court has taken up the case, but it has deliberated for weeks without a ruling, raising the ire of the groups that support Beatriz.

“We are outraged at their abdication of their role to protect and defend Beatriz’s life and health,” said Esther Major, Central America researcher for Amnesty International. “There is no justice in this delay, and definitely no humanity.”

Beatriz is now 24 weeks pregnant.

Although she is at the center of a national debate over abortion, Beatriz has declined to give interviews. Her mother, however, has spoken to the press.

“If this baby is born both (mother and child) could die, and they tell me that the baby would survive just six hours if it is born,” the mother said.

Beatriz argues that an abortion could save her life, and allow her to care for her other child, who is a year old.

“The fetus will die because it is not healthy, and so we have to decide that we must save Beatriz’s life because there is another child who needs her,” said Blanca Lopez of the Salvadoran Women’s Union.

Opponents of abortion have not been silent on the issue.

“I think that a great debate has been created using Beatriz, using her problem to promote the legalization of abortion,” said Regina de Cardenal of the country’s Yes to Life Foundation.

Although the doctors who are treating Beatriz recommended an abortion, others in the medical field disagree.

“Unfortunately, lupus is an incurable disease, and there is no reason to lie to the public,” said Miguel Fortin of the Institute of Legal Medicine. “Beatriz will not get better if her pregnancy is terminated. The pregnancy is a temporary condition but the lupus will remain.”

The country’s health minister has indicated that the government supports an abortion, but that it is up to the Supreme Court to decide.

With each passing week, the debate is more intense as the health of the mother and fetus are weighed.

If the Supreme Court does not act quickly, Beatriz may travel to another country where she can get an abortion, her mother said.

“If here in this country they don’t allow her what she has asked for, that would be a possibility,” she said.

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_world/~3/jppWtZaM4iQ/index.html

Istanbul (CNN) — A Turkish-Armenian blogger vowed to appeal a day after an Istanbul court sentenced him to more than a year in prison for blasphemy.

In a phone interview with CNN, Sevan Nisanyan accused Turkey’s Islamic-rooted government of politically persecuting him.

“When I attacked the Islamist establishment they felt I overstepped my boundaries,” said Nisanyan, who is a member of Turkey’s tiny Armenian ethnic minority. “Here I am an Armenian doing something no Armenian has done in a Muslim country. This is really the height of boldness, of impudence. This is something you are not supposed to do.”

Read more: Group: Number of jailed journalists worldwide reaches record high

According to Turkey’s semi-official Anatolian Agency, Nisanyan received a one year and 45-day jail sentence for “openly denigrating the religious values held by a certain portion of the population.”

Anatolian reported that Nisanyan’s initial nine-month jail sentence was extended because “the crime was committed through the press.”

Turkey is a majority Muslim country.

Nisanyan said the court cited a passage in his blog published last September that referred to the international uproar triggered by cheaply made Hollywood film called the “Innocence of Muslims.” The film, which ridiculed the most revered figure in Islam, the Prophet Mohammed, sparked violent protests in Egypt and Libya. The Turkish prime minister also denounced the movie as “Islamophobic,” though protests on Turkish streets were small and peaceful.

On Wednesday, Nisanyan published an English translation of the passage in question from his September 2012 blog post:

“It is not ‘hate crime’ to poke fun at some Arab leader who, many hundred years ago, claimed to have established contact with Deity and made political, economic and sexual profit as a result. It is almost a kindergarten-level case of what we call freedom of expression,” Nisanyan wrote.

Since the blog was published last year, Nisanyan said, prosecutors have taken him to court simultaneously for this passage in three separate courts across Turkey.

Nisanyan said he represented himself at the criminal court in Istanbul, without the help of an attorney. He acknowledged that he took a confrontational approach in his statement to the court, arguing that no one should be prosecuted for discussing the historical background of a religious figure.

CNN Blog: Erdogan’s troubling shift toward repression

“In consequence of his claim to have established contact with Deity, this Muhammed, who was a lowly merchant, acquired political dominion over all Arabian and gained the financial means to raise 30-thousand-strong armies,” Nisanyan wrote, citing his statement to the court.

“It is an incontrovertible historical fact that this person made political, economic and sexual profit from his alleged contact with Deity.”

In his interview with CNN, Nisanyan recognized that he was deliberately throwing fuel on the fire regarding his conviction.

“I’m hoping to contribute to the ongoing debate in this country on freedom of expression and freedom of religion,” Nisanyan said. “I think I’m performing a useful public service.”

This is not the first time people have been convicted of insulting Islam in Turkey.

Last month Fazil Say, Turkey’s most famous classical pianist, received a 10-month suspended jail sentence for insulting Islamic values in a series of statements disseminated on Twitter.

International press freedom organizations have slammed Turkey in previous years for having more journalists in prison than any other country.

On April 30, the human rights watchdog Amnesty International denounced a new package of legislation sponsored by the Turkish government.

“Amnesty International believes the reform package will allow abusive prosecutions to continue, forcing still more political activists, journalists and human rights defenders to face jail sentences for carrying out their work,” Amnesty wrote.

According to Anatolian, the judge in Istanbul ruled “not to postpone the punishment” for Nisanyan because he has a record of prior convictions.

Nisanyan served 11 months in prison a decade ago for committing building violations in the touristic Turkish village of Sirince, where he owned and operated a hotel.

Prior to becoming an outspoken political blogger and newspaper columnist, Nisanyan was a prominent travel writer and hotelier who promoted the boutique hotel and bed-and-breakfast industry in Turkey.

He said he is currently appealing a dozen convictions with sentences that add up to 20 years in jail.

During his previous prison term, Nisanyan wrote and published a dictionary of Turkish etymology, a study of the history of words.

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_world/~3/zU2-pYO7NGs/index.html

Editor’s note: Peter Bergen is CNN’s national security analyst, a director at the New America Foundation and the author of “Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden — From 9/11 to Abbottabad,” the basis for the HBO documentary “Manhunt” that will be shown on CNN on May 24. Jennifer Rowland is a research associate at the New America Foundation.

(CNN) — On Thursday, President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a major speech in Washington about his administration’s counterterrorism policies, focusing on the rationale and legal framework for the controversial CIA drone program and his plans to wind down the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.

So we thought it might be useful to examine some common myths about the drone program and the prison population at Guantanamo.

1. Drone strikes largely target the leaders of terrorist groups that threaten the United States.

In fact, of the thousands who have been killed in CIA drone strikes in Pakistan, only 37 were leaders of al Qaeda or affiliated organizations, according to a tally by the New America Foundation. And even if we add to that list the leaders of the Taliban who have been killed in drone strikes, only 2% of the victims of the CIA strikes in Pakistan have been militant leaders.

The drone program, which began more than a decade ago as a tool to kill leaders of terrorist groups, has evolved today into a counterinsurgency air force whose principal victims in Pakistan are lower-level members of the Taliban.

Drones, by the numbers

2. Drone strikes target specific terrorists who pose some kind of imminent threat to the U.S.

Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser and now CIA Director John Brennan said in a speech last year that “in order to prevent terrorist attacks on the United States and to save American lives — the United States government conducts targeted strikes against specific al Qaeda terrorists.”

That’s only partly true, because the CIA has also has occasionally conducted “signature strikes” against groups of men who display a particular behavioral “signature” that indicates they may be militants. In these cases, the targeter does not know the identity of the persons in the drone cross hairs.

3. Drone strikes kill a lot of civilians.

That was certainly once the case. Under President George W. Bush, the proportion of those killed by drones in Pakistan who were identified in reliable news reports as civilians or “unknowns” — people who were not identified definitively as either civilians or militants — was around 40%, according to data assembled by the New America Foundation.

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is home to the U.S. naval base that has held terror suspects since January 2002. Early in the war on terror, the Bush administration argued these detainees were “enemy combatants” who didn’t have the protections accorded to prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions. Click through for a look inside the controversial facility. Pictured: A detainee stands at an interior fence at Guantanamo Bay in October 2009.

A Navy sailor surveys the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in October 2009. Shortly after his first term began, President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close Guantanamo Bay within a year, but the move do so has stalled. Congress passed legislation preventing detainees from being transferred into the United States. However, the administration says Obama remains committed to closing the facility, also known as Gitmo.

U.S. military guards move a detainee inside the detention center in September 2010. At its peak, the detainee population reportedly exceeded 750 men at Guantanamo.

Muslim detainees kneel during early morning prayers in October 2009. Cells are marked with an arrow pointing in the direction of Mecca, regarded as Islam’s holy city.

A soldier stands near a placard on the fence line of the detention facility in January 2012.

A Quran sits among a display of items isssued to detainees in September 2010. The suspects are given a prayer mat and a copy of the Muslim holy book as well as a toothbrush, soap, shampoo and clothing.

A U.S. military guard walks out of the maximum security section of the detention center in September 2010.

A German shepherd police dog undergoes training exercises in October 2009 at Guantanamo Bay.

A camp librarian views artwork painted by detainees in September 2010.

A detainee rubs his face while attending a “life skills” class inside the Camp 6 high-security detention facility in April 2009.

A seat and shackle await a detainee in the DVD room of the maximum security Camp 5 detention center in March 2010.

U.S. Marines join in martial arts training at the U.S. naval base in September 2010.

Members of the military walk the hallway of Cell Block C in the Camp 5 detention facility in January 2012.

Guards move a detainee from his cell in Cell Block A of the Camp 6 detention facility in January 2012.

A detainee waits for lunch in September 2010. The cost of building Guantanamo’s high-security detention facilities was reportedly about $54 million.

Marines get an early-morning workout at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in October 2009.

A bus carries military guards from their night shift at the detention center in September 2010.

A military guard puts on gloves before moving a detainee within the detention center in September 2010.

Members of the U.S. Navy move down the hallway of Cell Block C in the Camp 5 detention facility in January 2012.

A U.S. military guard holds shackles before preparing to move a detainee in September 2010.

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Photos: Inside Guantanamo Bay

Gitmo prisoners being force-fed

CNN Explains: Drones

But the civilian and “unknown” casualty rate from drone strikes has fallen steadily over the life of the program. Under Obama that number has fallen to 16%. And in 2012 it was around 11%.

In 2012, 2% of the drones’ victims were characterized as civilians in news reports and 9% were described in a manner that made it ambiguous whether they were militants or civilians.

And in 2013, civilian casualties are at their lowest ever. That is partly the result of a sharply reduced number of drone strikes in Pakistan — 12 so far in 2013, compared with a record 122 in 2010 — and also more precise targeting. According to data collected by the New America Foundation, three to five “unknown” individuals have been killed so far in drone strikes in 2013. Two other organizations that track the CIA drone program in Pakistan, the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Long War Journal, report zero to four civilian deaths and 11 civilian deaths respectively.

4. The United States has no reason to worry about the legal framework governing drone strikes because it is so dominant in drone technology.

Only three countries currently are confirmed to possess armed drones — Israel, the United Kingdom and the U.S. But some 80 countries have drones, according to a count by the New America Foundation, and a number of them may already be able to arm them.

In February, a Chinese state-run newspaper reported that the Chinese government had contemplated deploying an armed drone in a remote, mountainous area to kill a drug lord, but decided instead to capture him.

Iran unveiled what it claimed was its first armed drone in 2010.

During a speech last week at the New America Foundation, the U.N. special rapporteur for counterterrorism and human rights, Ben Emmerson, estimated that “within a matter of certainly a year or two, other states will be deploying the technology, and within five years or so we will see a number of states and possibly nonstate actors deploying similar types of combat technology.”

Emmerson also pointed out that the rapid proliferation of drone technology means whatever legal framework the United States puts together to justify its targeted killing campaign “has to be a framework that we can live with if it is being used by Iran when it is deploying drones against Iranian dissidents hiding inside the territory of Syria or Turkey or Iraq.” A sobering and instructive thought.

Holder: Drone strikes have killed four Americans since 2009

5. The Pakistani government gives a wink and a nod to the drone program, providing tacit approval for its continuation.

It is true that Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf quietly agreed to allow the CIA’s targeted killing campaign to begin in 2004. But the program has become deeply controversial and unpopular in Pakistan because of the perception that it kills many civilians and that it erodes Pakistan’s national sovereignty.

In April 2012, the Pakistani parliament voted unanimously to rescind any previous permission that had been granted by the government for the CIA to conduct the targeted killing program.

During Ben Emmerson’s visit to Pakistan in March to discuss the CIA drone program with top officials, the point made to him “consistently, right across government, at the highest level and throughout, was that there is no continuing consent to the use of drones on Pakistani territory.”

The next Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who was elected on May 11 with a clear mandate, has urged an end to the drone strikes, telling reporters, “Drones indeed are challenging our sovereignty. Of course we have taken this matter up very seriously. I think this is a very serious issue, and our concern must be understood properly.”

6. Obama is soft on terrorists.

The CIA has conducted 355 drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal regions since the targeted killing program began there in 2004. The vast majority of these — 307 to be precise — were carried out under Obama.

Even if you take the most conservative estimate of the numbers of people the Obama administration has killed in drone strikes in Pakistan, 1,600, that is around twice the total number of prisoners that Bush sent to Guantanamo.

7. Many of the Guantanamo detainees who have been released return to the battlefield.

The U.S. government claims that 27% of those released from Guantanamo are suspected or confirmed to have taken up arms. For security reasons the government hasn’t released the names of these men since 2009, but a review of the public record suggests that number is quite inflated.

According to a review by the New America Foundation of news articles, Pentagon reports, and other relevant documents, of the 603 detainees who have been released from the prison, only 17 individuals (2.8%) are confirmed to have engaged in terrorist or insurgent activities against the United States or its citizens, while 21 individuals (3.5%) are suspected of engaging in such activities.

8. The detainees still held at Guantanamo are too dangerous to release.

Some undoubtedly are, such as the operational commander of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. But contrary to the fulminations of officials such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina — who said last year that Guantanamo detainees are “crazy bastards that want to kill us all” — half of the men still held at the prison camp were cleared for release three years ago by a task force of Department of Justice and Pentagon officials.

To be exact, 86 of the 166 men still imprisoned at Guantanamo were either found to be guilty of nothing, or were low-level fighters who could be repatriated subject to some continued monitoring by their home country’s government.

9. There are no benefits for the U.S. to release additional prisoners from Guantanamo.

Obama correctly said of Guantanamo in April, “It is expensive. It is inefficient. It hurts us in terms of our international standing. It lessens cooperation with our allies on counterterrorism efforts. It is a recruitment tool for extremists. It needs to be closed.”

The cost per year to keep one prisoner at Guantanamo is estimated to be $800,000, more than 30 times the cost of keeping a prisoner in a jail in the United States. And the Pentagon is asking Congress to approve a $200 million renovation plan for the prison.

The prisoners at Guantanamo have also featured frequently in jihadist propaganda, making it a recruitment tool for would-be al Qaeda members.

There is also a way forward through Guantanamo to obtaining some kind of peace deal with the Taliban. As a “confidence-building measure” for peace negotiations, theTaliban have agreed to release the only U.S. prisoner of war, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, in exchange for a handful of senior Taliban figures being held at Guantanamo, who would then be held under some form of house arrest in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. This deal is a precondition for continuing serious peace talks with the Taliban.

The 27-year-old soldier has been in captivity since the Taliban seized him on June 30, 2009.

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Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_world/~3/TUDrMYq1jMA/index.html

(CNN) — Actor Sean Penn, a friend of Bolivian President Evo Morales, nonetheless angered the South American country’s government after his call for the release of a U.S. businessman who has been imprisoned since 2011.

Penn, known for his chumminess with Latin America’s leftist leaders, is also an advocate for Brooklyn flooring contractor Jacob Ostreicher, whose supporters say has spent two years detained in Bolivia without evidence.

At a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee meeting Monday, Penn asked U.S. lawmakers to pressure the sponsors of the off-road Dakar Rally to cancel its planned 2014 route through Bolivia if Ostreicher is not freed.

“The Dakar Rally, one of the world’s most prominent displays of freedom and tenacity of the human spirit, will be parading through Bolivia even as thousands of prisoners like Mr. Ostreicher sit in feces-filled cells, forgotten behind locked walls,” Penn said.

On Tuesday, Bolivia’s minister of culture shot back.

“The remarks by Mr. Penn are his worst acting in all of his career,” Pablo Groux said, according to the state-run ABI news agency. “The remark is offensive to the Bolivian people, totally out of context and lacking any understanding.”

The minister said the actor’s comments harkened back to a time when the United States exerted heavy influence in Latin America.

“Those days are long gone,” Groux said.

The rebuke from the Bolivian official is notable coming from a government that Penn has been friendly with.

During his testimony before the subcommittee, Penn said that he does not blame Morales for Ostreicher’s situation, but endemic corruption in the judiciary.

Penn said that he met with Morales last year, with evidence supporting Ostreicher’s innocence, and that “these findings were received by the president with tremendous personal and human grief.”

Ostreicher is under house arrest after spending 18 months in a notorious prison while his case crawled in the overburdened Bolivian judicial system. He was arrested in June 2011 on suspicion of money laundering tied to a rice-growing operation, and he languished in prison without formal charges.

He maintained that corrupt officials had trumped up the case, and last year, six government officials were arrested for allegedly extorting and stealing from Ostreicher. But the case against him has not been dropped.

READ MORE: American on hunger strike after 11 months in Bolivian prison

READ MORE: Bolivia releases imprisoned American after 18 months

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_world/~3/uLqDd-hYios/index.html

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Syrian army soldiers take control of the village of Western Dumayna north of the rebel-held city of Qusayr on Monday, May 13. Syrian troops captured three villages in Homs province, allowing them to cut supply lines to rebels inside Qusayr town, a military officer told AFP. Tensions in Syria first flared in March 2011 during the onset of the Arab Spring, eventually escalating into a civil war that still rages. This gallery contains the most compelling images taken since the start of the conflict.

Syrian troops move into Dumayna on May 13.

Rebel fighters fire at government forces in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, May 12.

Smoke rises from an explosion in a Syrian village near the Israeli border on Tuesday, May 7.

Multiple explosions hit a Syrian village near the Israeli border on May 6.

A photo released by the Syrian Arab News Agency shows destruction from what is said was bomb attack in the Al-Hama area of Damascus on Sunday, May 5. According to the Syrian government, Israel launched an attack on a research center in the Damascus suburbs early Sunday.

People run for cover after what activists said was shelling by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s Raqqa province, on May 3.

People walk past a damaged building and multiple destroyed cars at the site of an explosion in Damascus where at least 13 were killed on April 30.

Cleaning takes place following another explosion in an upscale Damascus neightborhood on Monday, April 29. Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi survived the bombing targeting his motorcade.

A smoke cloud rises from shelling on the the al-Turkman mountains in Syria’s Latakia province on Thursday, April 25.

Searchers use a flashlight as they look for survivors among the rubble created by what activists say was a missile attack from the Syrian regime, in Raqqa province, Syria, on April 25.

A handout photograph from Syria’s national news agency SANA shows damage and debris from a mortar attack in the suburb of Jarmana near Damascus, Syria, on Wednesday, April 24. The attack killed seven and wounded more than 25, according to activists and state media. No group claimed responsibility for the mortar fire, which SANA said hit a municipality office and a school building.

A Kurdish fighter from the “Popular Protection Units” (YPG) takes position inside a building in the majority-Kurdish Sheikh Maqsood area of Aleppo, on Apri. 21.

People walk past destroyed houses in the northern Syrian town of Azaz on Sunday, April 21.

Free Syrian Army fighters take positions prior to an offensive against government forces in the Khan al-Assal area, near Aleppo on Saturday, April 20.

Men inspect damage at a house destroyed in an airstrike in Aleppo on April 15.

Syrian and Kurdish rebel fighters walk in the Sheikh Maqsud district of Aleppo on April 14.

A Syrian boy holds an AK-47 assault rifle in the streets of Aleppo on Sunday, April 14.

A female rebel monitors the movement of Syrian government forces in Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsud neighborhood on April 11.

A rebel runs to avoid sniper fire from Syrian government forces in Aleppo on Thursday, April 11.

Syrian rebels observe the movement of Syrian government forces around Al-Kendi hospital in Aleppo on Wednesday, April 10.

Rescue teams and security forces check out the scene of a deadly car bomb explosion in Damascus on April 8.

The fighting has taken a toll on buildings in Aleppo’s Saladin district, seen here on April 8.

A Syrian rebel runs for cover in Deir ez-Zor on April 2.

A rebel checks for snipers across the street toward the Citadel in Aleppo, Syria, on Saturday, March 30, in this photo taken by iReporter Lee Harper.

A Free Syrian fighter mourns the death of a friend in Aleppo on March 30, in this photo taken by iReporter Lee Harper.

A Syrian opposition fighter runs for cover from Syrian army snipers in Aleppo on Wednesday, March 27.

A Syrian girl covers her face to protect herself from fumes as a street covered with uncollected garbage is fumigated in Aleppo on Sunday, March 24.

A Syrian man and his family drive past damaged buildings in Maarat al-Numan, on Wednesday, March 20.

Syrians carry the body of a Syrian army soldier during a funeral ceremony in Idlib province on Tuesday, March 19.

Syrian rebels take position in Aleppo, the largest city in the country, on March 11.

Syrian men search for their relatives amongst the bodies of civilians executed and dumped in the Quweiq River on March 11.

A Free Syrian Army fighter looks back as smoke rises during fighting between rebel fighters and forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad on the outskirts of Aleppo on Saturday, March 2.

Residents read Shaam News newspapers published by the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo on March 2.

A member of the Free Syrian Army reacts to the death of a comrade who was killed in fighting, at Bustan al Qasr cemetery in Aleppo on Friday, March 1.

A rebel fighter throws a home-made grenade at Syrian government forces in Aleppo on February 16.

A member of the Free Syrian Army stands with his weapon as he looks at a rainbow in Aleppo on February 16.

A Syrian woman looks through a bus window in Aleppo on February 14.

Free Syrian Army fighters walk through a dust-filled stairwell in Damascus on February 7.

A Syrian rebel gestures at comrades from inside a broken armored personnel carrier in Al-Yaqubia on February 6.

A rebel fighter throws a hand grenade inside a Syrian Army base in Damascus on February 3.

People stand in the dust of a building destroyed in an airstrike in Aleppo, Syria on February 3.

Free Syrian Army fighters run as they enter a Syrian Army base during heavy fighting in the Arabeen neighborhood of Damascus on February 3.

An unexploded mortar shell fired by the Syrian Army sits lodged in the ground in Damascus on January 25.

Fighters from Fateh al Sham unit of the Free Syrian Army fire on Syrian Army soldiers at a check point in Damascus on January 20.

A Free Syrian Army fighter walks between buildings damaged during Syrian Air Force strikes in Damascus on January 19.

A Syrian rebel fighter tries to locate a government jet fighter in Aleppo on January 18.

Syrian rebels launch a missile near the Abu Baker brigade in Albab on January 16.

A Syrian boy walks near rubbish next to tents at a refugee camp near the northern city of Azaz on the Syria-Turkey border, on January 8.

Syrians look for survivors amid the rubble of a building targeted by a missile in Aleppo on January 7.

A father reacts after hearing of a shelling by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo on January 3.

A patient smokes a cigarette at Dar Al-Ajaza psychiatric hospital in Aleppo on December 18, 2012. The psychiatric ward, housing around 60 patients, has lacked the means to function properly since fighting broke out there in July.

Syrians mourn a fallen rebel fighter at a rebel base in the al-Fardos area of Aleppo on December 8.

Members of Liwa (Brigade) Salahadin, a Kurdish military unit fighting alongside rebel fighters, monitor the area in the besieged district of Karmel al-Jabl in Aleppo on December 6.

A member of Liwa Salahadin aims at a regime fighter in the besieged district of Karmel al-Jabl in Aleppo on December 6.

Two young boys sit underneath a washline in a refugee camp on the border between Syria and Turkey near Azaz on December 5.

The bodies of three children, who were allegedly killed in a mortar shell attack that landed close to a bakery in Aleppo, on December 2, are laid out for identification by family members at a makeshift hospital at an undisclosed location of the city.

Smoke rises in the Hanano and Bustan al-Basha districts in Aleppo on December 1 as fighting continues through the night.

Damaged houses in Aleppo are seen after an airstrike on November 29.

A Syrian rebel mourns the death of a comrade in Maraat al-Numan on November 20.

Syrians protesters stand on Assad’s portrait during an anti-regime demonstration in Aleppo on November 16.

A Syrian rebel takes cover during fighting against Syrian government forces in Aleppo on November 15.

Syrian opposition fighter Bazel Araj, 19, sleeps next to his pistol in Aleppo on November 11.

A rebel fighter fires at a Syrian government position in Aleppo on November 6.

A Syrian rebel leaps over debris left in the street while running across a “sniper alley” near the Salahudeen district in Aleppo on November 4.

Rebels hold their position in the midst of a battle on November 3 in Aleppo.

A man cries while being treated in a local hospital in a rebel-controlled area of Aleppo on October 31.

A man is treated for wounds after a government jet attacked the Karm al-Aser neighborhood in eastern Aleppo on October 31.

A Syrian rebel interrogates a handcuffed and blindfolded man suspected of being a pro-regime militiaman in Aleppo on October 26.

Smoke rises from a fuel station following a mortar attack as Syrian women walk on a rainy day in the Arqub neighborhood of Aleppo on October 25.

A Syrian rebel fires at an army position in the Karm al-Jabal district of Aleppo on October 22.

A wounded Syrian boy sits on the back of a truck carrying victims and wounded people to a hospital following an attack by regime forces in Aleppo on October 21.

A man lies on the ground after being shot by a sniper for a second time as he waits to be rescued by members of the Al-Baraa Bin Malek Battalion, part of the Free Syria Army’s Al-Fatah brigade, in Aleppo on October 20.

Syrian army soldiers run for cover during clashes with rebel fighters at Karam al-Jabal neighborhood of Aleppo on October 20.

Smoke rises after a Syrian Air Force fighter jet fired missiles at the suburbs of the northern province of Idlib on October 16.

A Syrian opposition fighter stands near a post in Aleppo on October 11.

A Syrian man mourns the death of his father, who was killed during a government attack in Aleppo on October 10.

A rebel fighter is carried by his friends and laid on a gurney to be treated for gunshot wounds sustained during heavy battles with government forces in Aleppo on October 1.

Syrian rebels help a wounded comrade to an Aleppo hospital after he was injured in a Syrian army strike on September 18.

Free Syria Army fighters are reflected in a mirror they use to see a Syrian Army post only 50 meters away in Aleppo on September 16.

A Syrian man carrying grocery bags tries to dodge sniper fire as he runs through an alley near a checkpoint manned by the Free Syria Army in Aleppo on September 14.

A woman walks past a destroyed building in Aleppo on September 13.

Free Syrian Army fighters battle during street fighting against Syrian army soldiers in Aleppo on September 8.

A Syrian man wounded by shelling sits on a chair outside a closed shop in Aleppo on September 4.

A woman sits in her wheelchair next to her house, damaged by a Syrian air raid, near Homs on August 26.

Members of the Free Syrian Army clash with Syrian army soliders in Aleppo’s Saif al-Dawla district on August 22.

A man mourns in front of a field hospital on August 21 in Aleppo.

Wounded civilians wait in a field hospital after an air strike on August 21 in Aleppo.

People pray during the funeral of a Free Syrian Army fighter, Amar Ali Amero, on August 21.

A man cries near the graves of his two children killed during a recent Syrian airstrike in Azaz on August 20.

A Syrian woman holds her dead baby as she screams upon seeing her husband’s body being covered following an airstrike by regime forces on the town of Azaz on August 15.

A Syrian rebel runs in a street of Selehattin during an attack on the municipal building on July 23.

Syrian rebels hunt for snipers after attacking the municipality building in the city center of Selehattin on July 23.

Members of the Free Syrian Army’s Mugaweer (commandos) Brigade pay their respects in a cemetery on May 12 in Qusayr.

Syrian rebels take position near Qusayr on May 10.

A Free Syrian Army member takes cover in underground caves in Sarmin on April 9.

Rebels prepare to engage government tanks that advanced into Saraquib on April 9.

Men say prayers during a ceremony in Binnish on April 9.

A young boy plays with a toy gun in Binnish on April 9.

A Free Syrian Army rebel mounts his horse in the Al-Shatouria village near the Turkish border in northwestern Syria on March 16, a year after the uprising began.

Syrian refugees walk across a field before crossing into Turkey on March 14.

A rebel takes position in Al-Qsair on January 27.

A protester in Homs throws a tear gas bomb back towards security forces, on December 27, 2011.

A man stands under a giant Syrian flag outside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on December 24, 2011.

A member of the Free Syrian Army looks out over a valley in the village of Ain al-Baida on December 15, 2011.

Members of the Free Syrian Army stand in an valley near the village of Ain al-Baida, close to the Turkish border, on December 15, 2011.

Displaced Syrian refugees walk through an orchard adjacent to Syria’s northern border with Turkey on June 14, 2011, near Khirbet al-Jouz.

A Syrian man holds up a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad during a rally to show support for the president in Damascus on April 30, 2011.

Syrians rally to show their support for President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on April 30, 2011.

A screen grab from YouTube shows thick smoke rising above as Syrian anti-government protesters demonstrate in Moaret Al-Noman on April 29, 2011.

A screen grab from YouTube shows Syrian anti-government protesters run for cover from tear gas fired by security forces in Damascus on April 29, 2011, during the “Day of Rage” demonstrations called by activists to put pressure on al-Assad.

Syrians wave their national flag and hold portraits of al-Assad during a rally to show their support for their leader in Damascus on March 29, 2011.

A woman sits by the hospital bed of a man allegedly injured when an armed group seized rooftops in Latakia on March 27, 2011, and opened fire at passers-by, citizens and security forces personnel according to official sources.

Syrian protesters chant slogans in support of al-Assad during a rally in Damascus on March 25, 2011.

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(CNN) — An uneasy calm prevailed Thursday morning in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli where days of clashes between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad left 16 people dead and wounded more than 156.

Fear of snipers kept people indoors, reported Lebanon’s state news agency said. The streets were empty of cars, and schools and universities closed.

Interactive: Why Syrian civil war is not just about Syria

The fighting began Sunday, with the deadliest clashes taking place Wednesday night, Lebanon’s state news agency said.

The clashing sides are residents of the Bab-al-Tibbaneh neighborhood (dominated by Sunnis), and the adjacent Jabal Mohsen neighborhood (which is dominated by Alawites).

Syrian forces pound rebel stronghold

Al-Assad: I’ll consider talks, but …

Why are atrocities growing in Syria?

Tripoli is home to both Alawite and Sunni Muslims, and sectarian tensions have worsened in recent months as the civil war in neighboring Syria rages on.

QA: Is Syrian war escalating to wider conflict?

The Alawites support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Sunnis want his ouster.

The Lebanese government has remained officially neutral in the conflict — even as it has firmly, but quietly, supported al-Assad.

Analysts say the longer the Syrian conflict rages, the more destabilized Lebanon will become.

The Syrian connection

The major concern for Lebanon is that Syria’s troubles will reopen the wounds of Lebanon’s 15-year-long civil war, which ended in 1990.

Aside from its southern border with Israel, Lebanon is entirely surrounded by Syria, and was considered part of “greater Syria” until the end of World War I.

It became an independent country in 1943 but has been strongly influenced by Syria both politically and militarily for much of the time since.

Syrian troops were deployed in Lebanon between 1976 and 2005, primarily in the north — ostensibly at first as peacekeepers to help stop Lebanon’s long civil war — but maintained a significant presence long after the fighting stopped in 1990.

Opinion: In U.S., humanitarian intervention is just ‘politics as usual’

This all changed in 2005 after former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed by a car bomb in Beirut.

Anti-al-Assad elements in Lebanon accused the Syrian government of being behind the attack, and popular protests — along with international pressure — forced the Syrian military to withdraw from the country.

Since then, Lebanon’s two most prominent political blocs have been sharply divided in their attitude toward Syria: the ruling pro-Syria alliance and a group of anti-Syrian factions led by Saad Hariri, son of the assassinated former prime minister.

In addition, thousands of refugees have poured into Lebanon since the conflict in Syria began.

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_world/~3/7jDJTtW3Oos/index.html

(CNN) — Thirteen-year-old Rose Matrie lives in a cracked house.

The light that streams through the narrow slit in the concrete wall is an ever-present reminder of the earthquake that struck her home in Haiti in 2010 and devastated the already impoverished country. Still, Rose Matrie has big dreams for her future.

“I want to go to a big school in order to develop my talents,” she says.

Her mother fastened a large chalkboard on the outside of their home to cover up the crack, and every day Rose Matrie does her homework there. Her teacher says she is very bright and excels in literature.

“When I let my imagination go, I think of extraordinary things,” Rose Matrie says.

Her father lost his job after the earthquake, and though her mother works as a seamstress, there is little demand for her skills. Like many families in Haiti, her parents are struggling to pay the school fees to keep her and her five siblings enrolled.

In Haiti, public schools only meet about 20% of the demand for basic education in rural areas, and education costs, particularly for private schools, remain very high in relation to family income, according to the nonprofit Plan International USA.

Plan is working with local governments and schools to provide more children in Haiti with access to a quality education. The organization is building classrooms and school facilities, training educators and providing school supplies, textbooks and uniforms for children in need.

“[This is] so those costs aren’t passed on to families as a barrier to attendance,” explains Ann Wang, a plan communications specialist.

When the relatively high cost of school is decreased or eliminated, more children like Rose Matrie can get an education and develop their talents.

Watch the video for a glimpse into Rose Matrie’s world. You can help her and other girls growing up in Haiti.

Give

Support the campaign behind the film “Girl Rising” and give to the 10×10 Fund for Girls’ Education. Donations will be distributed evenly among the 10×10 nonprofit partners and help fund girls’ education projects around the world.

You can also help advance Plan’s work by donating to its “Because I am a Girl” campaign, which supports projects that help girls and women in the developing world. Through the “Gifts of Hope” program, you can symbolically donate things like school uniforms, vaccinations, school supplies or even girl-friendly latrines.

Share

Plan international USA created resources for students and teachers. These online booklets are designed to help people of all ages understand the challenges that many girls and women face around the world.

Impact

For even more ways to make an impact for girls education around the world, check out CNN’s Impact Your World resources or take action with 10×10.

More about CNN Films’ “Girl Rising” project

More from CNN’s Impact Your World

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The victim killed in a cleaver attack Wednesday was identified as Drummer Lee Rigby of 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. The brutal killing of Rigby shocked the United Kingdom, with Prime Minister David Cameron saying the act appears to have been a terrorist attack.

A police officer stands with flowers in a hail storm on Thursday, May 23, close to the crime scene in front of Woolwich Barracks in southeast London.

A man contemplates at a scene where flowers lay, outside Woolwich Barracks in London.

Flowers lie outside Woolwich Barracks on May 23.

Soldiers walk outside Woolwich Barracks on Thursday, May 23, near where the soldier was killed.

Notes and shirts sit outside Woolwich Barracks on May 23. The slain soldier was wearing a “Help for Heroes” shirt when he was killed.

British soldiers stand guard outside the barracks on May 23.

Members of the far-right English Defence League wear balaclavas as they gather outside a pub in Woolwich on Wednesday, May 22.

EDL supporters confront police in Woolwich on May 22.

EDL leader Tommy Robinson joins supporters at the crime scene on May 22.

A police officer guards a tent that’s been set up at the crime scene as investigations continue late May 22.

Mary Warder brings flowers to the scene of the crime on May 22 to pay respects to the victim.

Men place flowers near the scene on John Wilson Street.

A police officer guards a blocked-off area in Woolwich on May 22.

A general view of Woolwich Barracks, near the scene in Woolwich.

Police officers block off a road in Woolwich.

Forensic officers investigate the crime scene on May 22.

Police walk to the scene in Woolwich on May 22.

A still frame from video shows a man outside the Woolwich Barracks in London holding a cleaver and addressing the camera directly, moments after a serving soldier was hacked to death in the street on Wednesday, May 22. The man in the video swore “by almighty Allah” to keep fighting. British Prime David Cameron called the attack terrorism.

Britain’s prime Minister David Cameron addresses media representatives at 10 Downing Street in London on May 23, 2013, a day after a soldier who was hacked to death in a London street by two suspected Islamist extremists.

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Are you from the area affected, or London in general? What is your reaction to the incident? Send us your images, video and experiences.

London (CNN) — A gruesome cleaver attack on a British soldier left London reeling Thursday, as Britain grappled with questions over who was responsible and whether Islamist extremism was to blame.

The scene revealed through cell phone camera footage and witness accounts Wednesday was bloody, and for many hard to believe.

A meat cleaver-wielding man with bloody hands addressed a camera, his victim lying mutilated in the street behind him.

London attack: Terrorists targeting soldiers at home again?

“The only reasons we killed this man … is because Muslims are dying daily,” he said in video aired by CNN affiliate ITN.

Cameron: Strong indication of terrorism

London attack suspect caught on video

Terrorism analyst on soldier killing

Deadly attack near London barracks

“This British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for tooth,” he said. “We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you until you leave us alone.”

Those two men are now under arrest, being treated in London hospitals for injuries suffered in a confrontation with armed police in southeast London’s Woolwich neighborhood. Authorities have not released their identities.

The slain soldier has been named as Lee Rigby, who held the rank of drummer, the Ministry of Defense said.

Soldier slain in London was a machine gunner, Royal Palaces drummer, father

The crisis brought Prime Minister David Cameron rushing back Wednesday night from an official trip to Paris.

He condemned the “horrific attack” in a news conference Thursday, vowing that Britain would be “absolutely resolute” in the face of terrorism.

“We will never give in to terror or terrorism in any form,” he said.

Cameron said Britain’s security services would not rest until they brought all those responsible to justice.

U.S. President Barack Obama issued a statement Thursday condemning the attack.

“The United States stands resolute with the United Kingdom, our ally and friend, against violent extremism and terror,” the statement said. “There can be absolutely no justification for such acts, and our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim, the police and security services responding to this horrific act and the communities they serve, and the British people.”

He added that the “special” U.S.-British relationship “is especially important during times of trial.”

It is understood that the two people suspected of carrying out the knife attack were known to Britain’s domestic security service. They had featured in previous investigations into other people, but were not themselves under surveillance.

Amid concern over a backlash against the Muslim community, Cameron insisted the slaying had nothing to do with Islam, despite the claims made by one of the suspected attackers.

He spoke after a crisis meeting of senior officials Thursday morning, as security was increased at army bases around London amid fears of additional attacks.

The calling of the crisis meeting — the second in less than 24 hours — indicates how seriously the government is taking what it says is a terrorist incident.

Read more: London attack mirrors plot to behead Muslim soldier

The capital has not witnessed an alert of this kind since the summer of 2005, when London’s public transport network was targeted with coordinated bomb attacks.

British media outlets, including Sky and the Daily Mail, are naming one of the suspects as Michael Adebolajo. CNN has not independently confirmed the name.

‘Butcher’s tools’

As the initial shock over the man’s gory death at the hands of two knife-wielding men ebbed Thursday, an individual story of courage stood out.

A Cub Scout leader, Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, told Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper how she had jumped off a bus to try to revive a man she at first thought had been hurt in an accident.

But she swiftly realized the man was dead, and it was not an accident.

Watch: Terrorism analyst on soldier killing

“When I went up, there was this black guy with a revolver and a kitchen knife. He had what looked like butcher’s tools, and he had a little axe, to cut the bones, and two large knives, and he said, ‘Move off the body,’ ” she told the newspaper.

“So I thought ‘OK, I don’t know what is going on here,’ and he was covered with blood. I thought I had better start talking to him before he starts attacking somebody else.”

A man who identified himself as James told London’s LBC 97.3 radio station that he saw two men standing by the victim, who was on the ground.

At first, James thought they were trying to help the man. But then he saw two meat cleavers, like a butcher would have.

“They were hacking at this poor guy, literally,” he told the radio station. “These two guys were crazed. They were just not there. They were just animals.”

Another witness, Michael Atlee, described the gruesome, frenzied and ultimately fatal sequence of events as “a bloody mess.” The men first ran the victim down in a car before attacking him with knives, he said.

Searches have been carried out at several locations in connection with the slaying, Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Crime and Operations Mark Rowley said. One address searched was in Lincolnshire, eastern England.

An additional 1,200 police are on London’s streets to reassure the public, Rowley said, with extra patrols at key locations such as religious institutions and transport hubs.

“We are also liaising closely with the military to ensure appropriate security measures are in place in relation to military premises and personnel,” he said.

The scene of the killing, close to the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, remained cordoned off as police searched for clues Thursday morning.

Could London killing inspire other attacks?

Witness: Attackers ‘were just animals’

‘People will break’

Residents on Thursday shared with CNN their shock that something like this could have happened in the working-class, multicultural area where they live and work.

Construction worker Victor Easdown, who heard the shots ring out as police took on the attackers, fears the incident could fuel tensions and reprisal attacks.

“People can only take so much. And people will break,” he said.

Graham Wilder, a resident whose son attends a nearby school, told how he feared for the safety of his family and other children who had just left the school Wednesday afternoon.

After he saw that one of the attackers had a gun, he alerted police and school authorities, Wilder said. He heard shots fired and screamed for his wife, who was at a nearby store, to get down.

Cameron said Britons would stand together to defeat the threat of violent extremism.

“This was not just an attack on Britain and on the British way of life, it was also a betrayal of Islam and of the Muslim communities who give so much to our country,” he said.

“There is nothing in Islam that justifies this truly dreadful act. … The fault lies solely with the sickening individuals who carried out this attack.”

Prominent British Muslim radical leader Anjem Choudary told CNN on Thursday that he knew one of the men named on social media as carrying out the Woolwich knife attack.

Choudary said the suspect had attended demonstrations and a few lectures organized by Choudary’s group Al-Muhajiroun.

Reprisal attacks

There were concerns the brutal incident might inflame animosity against Muslims, with Metropolitan Police deploying riot police Wednesday as a precautionary measure.

The Muslim Council of Britain, after condemning what it called “a truly barbaric act that has no basis in Islam,” urged Muslims and non-Muslims alike “to come together in solidarity to ensure the forces of hatred do not prevail.”

“What we have seen on the streets of London has been particularly sickening, a really, really heinous act of I would say criminality — and I’m being careful to say criminality, not terrorism,” political and social commentator Mohammed Ansar told CNN.

The motivation behind what happened remains unclear, he pointed out.

“What we need at this time is a sense of calm, a sense of measure and a sense of perspective. What we don’t need are knee-jerk reactions … to really ratchet up tensions and really stoke and inflame anxieties within communities.”

Members of the far-right English Defense League clashed with police late Wednesday.

The group’s official Twitter account posted this call to action: “ANY EDL MEMBERS TAKE TO THE STREETS IN YOUR LOCAL TOWN/CITY TAKE A STAND !!!!!!”

Later Wednesday, a man with two knives threw a smoke grenade into a mosque in Essex, a county east of London, and demanded someone come outside to answer to the Woolwich slaying, the mosque’s secretary said. Police responded quickly and arrested the man, said Al Falah Braintree Islamic Center secretary Sikander Sleemy.

“I believe this was a revenge attack for what happened in Woolwich,” Sleemy said. “We strongly condemn what happened in Woolwich. It’s not an Islamic act.”

In Kent, police arrested a man on suspicion of “racially aggravated criminal damage” at a religious building.

Soldiers targeted before

Nick Raynsford, the member of Parliament for Woolwich, told CNN the soldier apparently had been on duty in central London and was returning to the barracks when he was attacked.

Troops stationed at the historic military barracks have a close relationship with locals, the Parliament member said.

British soldiers have participated in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are due to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

This isn’t the first time British soldiers have been singled out.

Last month, four radical Islamists were convicted at Woolwich Crown Court of a plot to drive a car full of explosives, by remote control, into an army barracks in Luton, north of London.

Several years earlier, police interrupted a scheme in which Islamists planned to kidnap a soldier of Pakistani heritage and behead him. Their plan called for releasing an Internet video of the decapitation.

A pub in the same area of Woolwich was targeted by the Irish Republican Army in 1974. Two people died in the bombing.

Local residents said police responded quickly when the alarm was raised Wednesday afternoon but questioned how long it had taken for a specialist firearms unit to arrive. British police typically don’t carry guns.

The Metropolitan Police said its first officers were on the scene within nine minutes of the alert being raised. The firearms unit was there 14 minutes after the first call was made, the force said.

“There has been an increased police presence in Woolwich and the surrounding areas overnight, and this will continue for as long as it is needed,” said Assistant Commissioner Byrne.

“There were small incidents of minor disorder in Woolwich” late Wednesday, he said, but police dealt with these without arrests or reports of injuries or damage.

CNN’s Jonathan Wald, Carol Jordan, Atika Shubert, Erin McLaughlin, Richard Allen Greene, Ed Payne and Nic Robertson contributed to this report.

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_world/~3/bDodkFotsXM/index.html

Read a version of this story in Arabic.

(CNN) — The fighting in Syria has taken another dangerous turn, with rebel rockets targeting Hezbollah locations in Lebanon.

Rebels battling for control of Qusayr, a strategically important western town in Syria, fired rockets Sunday across the Lebanese border at the militant group’s areas, the rebel Free Syrian Army said.

Hezbollah, the pro-regime and pro-Iranian Shiite militia regarded as a dangerous terror group by the United States and Sunni countries, is fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad’s security forces.

The Free Syrian Army claimed it fired Grad rockets from the city of Qusayr into northeastern Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah areas in Hermel. The opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said that direct hits were reported in Hermel and that checkpoints were also targeted.

Taking heart amid Syria’s carnage

Al-Assad: I’ll consider talks, but …

Saving Syria’s heart

Syrian forces pound rebel stronghold

The official Lebanese news agency, NNA, reported the short-range strikes.

The outlet said the strikes caused no damage or casualties. But the rockets underscored fears that bordering nations — such as Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan — will be sucked into the conflict, now in its third year.

The White House said President Barack Obama spoke on the phone Monday to Lebanese President Michel Sleiman and “stressed his concern about Hezballah’s active and growing role in Syria, fighting on behalf of the Assad regime, which is counter to the Lebanese government’s policies.”

The civil war in Syria has left around 80,000 people dead and displaced a few million, the United Nations says.

Qusayr, in Homs province near the Lebanese border, is now a major battle front in Syria.

Cartoons that scare Syria’s leader

For rebels fighting al-Assad’s government, it sits along a transit route for weapons and supplies coming in from Lebanon. For the Syrian government, Qusayr is along a rebel supply line that al-Assad must neutralize to retake control of Homs and foster safer passage between the Mediterranean coast and the capital of Damascus.

Fighting still raged Monday in Qusayr. A rebel spokesman, Tariq Maraey, told CNN that six people were killed in government shelling Monday.

Dozens of people in the city, including Hezbollah members, were killed Sunday, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, during fighting for the city.

The regime’s Syrian Arab News Agency said soldiers have restored stability to the eastern side of the city “after killing big numbers of terrorists and destroying their hideouts.”

The news outlet also quoted an official source saying armed forces seized an Israeli vehicle used by “terrorists,” the term the government uses to describe its armed opponents.

An Israeli military spokesman said the vehicle, a jeep, had been out of Israeli service for more than 10 years.

“This is a cheap propaganda attempt and nothing more,” the spokesman said of the Syrian government report.

Throughout the country, including Homs province, at least 62 people have died Monday, the LCC said.

READ MORE: Violence surges in strategic Syrian city

READ MORE: U.N.: More than 1.5 million fled Syria, 4 million more displaced within nation

CNN’s Joe Sterling, Nic Robertson and Kareem Khadder contributed to this report.

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_world/~3/c8bMRj4DYmg/index.html