Egypt - Morsy New President

It's only ten minutes ago that Egypt's Central Election Committee declared Mohammed Morsy the new president of Egypt. After some teasing half hour during which the election committee delivered its report on counting and checking and counterchecking the votes, the result is now clear and credible:



محمد مرسي رئيساً لمصر

Mohammad Morsy - President for Egypt

The above screenshot is showing the centers of campaign for Ahmad Shafiq (left) and Mohammad Morsy (right). At the presentation of the overall result, one could see Morsy supporters getting up from their seats, their arms being raised in joy while Shafiq supporters remained stunned.



Morsi: 13,230,131 votes (51.7%)
Shafiq: 12,347,380 (48%)

Scene from Tahrir Square in Central Kairo after the announcement of Morsy's victory (above). However, the demonstrations are not only in support of Morsy alone but as well directed against increasing influence of the Military Committee that recently reduced the president's rights and dissolved parliament. All the people want to achieve is to get rid of the old system presented by former president Mubarak and his comrades-in-arms of the Military Committee.

الرئيس محمد مرسي يحكم مصر بصلاحيات منقوصة

President Mohammad Morsy is governing Egypt with insufficient authorities.



Participants in the Presidential Elections of Egypt.
Winner is still the Military.

The above cartoon has been published on Al-Arabiya's website on the same day. TV screenshots for this site have been taken from life coverage by Al-Jazeera, Arabic channel.

Egypt's neighbour Israel praising the Arab Spring (CNN on June 12, 2012):

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The Opposition Within the Opposition

Headline:
مقاطعون: نتيجة الانتخابات تحصيل حاصل.. ولن نعترف بالرئيس المقبل
The "opponents" [of that election]: The election result is a truism ...
and we don't recognize the coming president.

قال عدد من النشطاء الداعين إلى مقاطعة الانتخابات الرئاسية، إنهم لن يعترفوا بالرئيس القادم،لأنه سيكون بلا شرعية
Some complaining activists favouring a boycott of the presidential elections are saying they won't accept the coming president because he will not be legitimate.
[Source: Al-Misry Al-Youm on June 17, 2012 ]

وقفة احتجاجية لحملة مقاطعون الانتخابات
Protest [arising] from campaigners [favouring] a boycott of the elections.
[Another headline at Al-Misry Al-Youm]

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Visitor Statistics for "blueprint news"

Regional visitors to "blueprint news" at the time this
news item on Morsy's presidency was being published:



Local distribution of visitors from Egypt to
"blueprint news" (based on overall data):

A localized internet access point in Cairo where
numerous visitors to "blueprint news" came from:

Distribution of visitors to "blueprint news" for the
Eastern Mediterranean and Arabic Peninsula region
(based on last 200 visitors to this site):

Distribution of visitors to "blueprint news" from
East India and South-East Asia (for last 200):

Egypt - At Boiling Point

While ten thousands are demonstrating on Tahrir Square in Kairo against military rule and for an immediate proclamation of the winner in Egypt's presidential elections, Al-Jazeera, Arabic TV channel, has some additional news in its early morning program of June 23:

لقاءات بين الإخوان و المجلس العسكري لحل الازمة في مصر

Meetings between [Muslim] Brotherhood and Military Council in order to solve the Egyptian crisis. [UPDATE from the evening news of Al-Jazeera TV, Arabic channel, on June 23]

مرسي يتعهد باختيار رئيس وزراء و نائبين للرئيس من خارج حزب الخرية و العدالة

Morsy engages in the selection of a prime minister and vice-prime ministers [coming from the] outside of [his] Party for Liberty and Justice.

المجلس العسكري: سيادة القانون هى أساس الحكم في الدولة

The military council: The authority of law is a base of the nation's power.

المجلس العسكري في مصر يؤكد وقوفه على مسافة و احدة من القوى السياسية كافة

The military council of Egypt confirms its stopping of any [one-sided] race [on behalf] of any political powers [whatsoever].



مصادر قضائية مصرية للجزيرة: ترجيح الإعلان عن نتيجة الانتخابات الرئاسية غدا

Juridical sources in Egypt [told] Al-Jazeera: For tomorrow there is a [high] probability for the result of the presidential elections being proclaimed.



Identified locations for the last
38 visitors from Egypt to my blog:


One identified visitor from Washington D.C. to my blog.
According to his equipment he should be a professional.
The location map below has been cleaned for neighbouring
street names and some other hints useful for identification:

Here, once again the earliest election results from June 18:


Proof of authenticity for the first results from Alexandria on June 18:

China - Title is Program

Yesterday, June 19, Shenzhou 9 spacecraft performed a fully automated docking manoeuvre to Tiangong space station. Here are some quotations from the official website on China's space flight.

Headline:
中国航天员首次进驻天宫 “打开的不仅是天宫之门”
China's astronauts arranged quarters for the first time in the Palace of Heaven - " It's more than just opening the door to Tiangong "

… 他们打开的不单单是天宫的门，更是载人航天工程一个新的实验领域和一个新起点。
They did not just open the door to Tiangong, but even more manned a new domain for experiments and a new starting point [in the frame of that] spaceflight project.

… 看到神九航天员轻松自如地进入天宫一号 …
... [Only] to look at how relaxed and easily the astronauts of Shenzhou 9 entered Tiangong I ...
Chinese comment: "That is what Yang Li Wei proudly told his comrades-in-arms." Background: Yang is another astronaut who earlier experienced space on board of Shenzhou 5.

By the way, the Chinese website on "opening the door to the Palace of Heaven" turned out to be infected with a trojan which is rather unusual for such kind of official information sites. The only other exception of that rule I found was the website of China Daily. As I consider the English website of China Daily to be less useful than Chinese language sites, this was no real problem for me but might be annoying other foreign visitors who make up their target group.

Egypt Voted for Morsy !?

Important UPDATE further down !

It is still uncertain whether Morsy can be expected to be the winning candidate in the presidential race or not. In fact, it seems that Egypt is extremely polarized on this matter. Even Egypt's press is split on the outcome of the presidential elections [=> BBC].

While some regions are showing a strong preference for the candidate of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, others prefer that kind of "peace and stability" which only a former representative of the Mubarak era could offer with some credibility. However, the presidential race will be decided in the densely populated regions rather than some "peaceful and secure" holiday resorts for wealthy tourists or residential areas for the rich and influential of Egypt.

Here are the latest results for the 2nd round of presidential elections in Egypt at 21:30 GMT:



Dakahlia district and its capital El Mansura which is being regarded as Egypt's No. 3 after Cairo and Alexandria:



First, unrefined results from 18:00 GMT for comparison:



The above presented partial results have been provided by the Arabic service of Al-Jazeera TV in a life feed during its regular program. As to the possible source and reliability of these data, there's an interesting article originating from Associated Press and dated on Sunday, June 17. It makes us understand why the followers of Morsy such early took to the streets to celebrate their victory. However, it is clear that this will be a tight race for both candidates:

" ... According to results made public by the Muslim Brotherhood, from just over 80 percent of the more than 13,000 polling stations nationwide, gave Morsi 52.5 percent of the vote and Shafiq 47.5 percent.
The figures were from results announced by election officials at individual counting centers, where each campaign has representatives who compile the numbers and make them public before the formal declaration. The early, partial counts proved generally accurate in the first round of the election last month. "

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Identified locations for the last 32 visitors to blueprint news coming from Egypt (below). The map of Egypt might serve as well to locate most places from where regional election data are already available.

Greece Votes Pro-Europe

Complete UPDATE on June 18, 01:00 GMT, IBN:

With 82.5 percent of the vote counted, official results and a predicted distribution of the 300 seats in parliament are as follows:

"Nea Dimukratia" 30 % => 130 seats pro-bailout

"Syriza" 26.6 % => 71 seats radical anti-bailout

"Pasok" 12.5 % => 33 seats pro-bailout

"Golden Dawn" 6.9 % => 18 seats

"Democratic left" 6.1 % => 18 seats pro-bailout

The parties have deeply varying views about how to use the €240 billion ($300 billion) in bailout loans that Greece has been given by international lenders, and the harsh austerity measures that previous Greek governments had to accept to get the funds.

New Democracy (Nea Dimukratia) leader Antonis Samaras cast Sunday's choice as one between keeping the euro and returning to Greece's old currency, the drachma. He has vowed to renegotiate some of the bailout's harsher terms but insists the top priority is for the country to remain in Europe's joint currency.

"The Greek people today voted for Greece to remain on its European path and in the eurozone," Samaras said after his party won. "(Voters chose) policies that will bring jobs, growth, justice and security."

China's Space Mission - Day of Launch

Picture taken from the Chinese daily MORNING EXPRESS 近日早报 on June 16, 2012.

Today, at 18:37 Peking time (10:37 GMT) a Long March II-F rocket should have been launched, carrying the Shenzhou 9 spaceship with three Chinese astronauts on board.



For the first time, a woman astronaut has been selected for China's space mission: Liu Yang, born in October 1978 in Henan province, is accompanied by two male astronauts from Shanxi province: Jing Hai Peng (* October 1966) and Liu Wang (* March 1969). Jing Hai Peng has already been in space with spacecraft Shenzhou 7 in September 2008.


- Pictures of Liu Yang -

After docking with the 335 km-high Tiangong space station, the crew will spend over a week living and working there, testing new systems and conducting a number of scientific experiments.

Tiangong station after docking of Shenzhou 9
and complete unfolding of its solar cell device
(Position: South-China, South-Korea, Japan)

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A remarkable week has its remarkable visitors to blueprint news. Here is an abbreviated weekly visitors report:



Identified locations in Egypt for the last 31 visitors:



Identified locations for visitors from Central and Eastern U.S.A. during the last two weeks:



Identified locations for visitors from California U.S.A. during the last two weeks:

Presidential Elections in Egypt - Morsy Speaking

Latest UPDATE further down !



مؤتمر صحفي لحملة المرشح في انتخابات الرئاسة المصرية محمد مرسي

Press conference in the campaign of Mohammed Morsy, candidate in the presidential elections of Egypt.

Yesterday, June 14, Mohammed Morsy who is running for presidency in Egypt on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood and their political party, summoned a press conference. The following stances have been quoted by Al-Jazeera TV, Arabic channel, in their Arabic subtitles:

مرسي: الثورة التي أزاحت مبارك ما زالت قائمة و نحن قادرون على التحدي

Morsy [said]: "The revolution that ousted Mubarak did not [yet] finish with the [state] and we are [still] able to resist."

مرسي: هناك من يحاول و يسعى و يدبر بسوء لشعب مصر و يريد العبث بإرادته

Morsy: "Here [are] those who are trying to [continue] and are attending to organize the misfortune of the Egyptian people. And [those who] wish [such] mocking out of their [own] decision."

مرسي: إما أن نعيد حق الشهداء ممن قتلهم و إما أن نكون شهداء مثلهم و هذا أمر لا رجعة فيه

Morsy: "Should we celebrate the right of being witness to those who killed you and whom we witnessed presenting [in public] themselves and that irrevocable order."

مرسي: مستمر في خوض معركتي الانتخابية و نحن قادرون على تحقيق أهداف ثورتنا

Morsy: "Constantly in my electioneering campaign we were able to define the goals of our revolution."



مرسي يحذر بأن هناك ثورة جديدة ستندلع إذاتم تزوير إرادة الشعب المصري

Morsy warns that a new revolution [starting] from here would trigger off a distorted manifestation of the Egyptian people's [real] will.


Al-Ahram cartoon showing both opposing candidates in the presidential elections of Egypt: Morsy (left) and Shafiq (right). By the way, Mubarak's former prime minister Shafiq is known for his support of women's rights while Morsy has been characterized by some old-fashioned outfit which might hint at his conservative Muslimic attitude.



The presentation of Mohammed Morsy in the above cartoon reminds me of a funny story from my old book of Arabic lessons. It's about a person with a similar (traditional) outfit and who is named Djukhan. That guy who I understand is some kind of Arabic punch finds it difficult to be accepted by his neighbours as there is always somebody pointing at him and critisizing what he is doing. That story is showing how difficult it can be to satisfy all of your neighbours who are pestering with all of their lousy comments. Maybe, the West and Israel are having problems with Mohammed Morsy because he is representing such kind of person, rooted in the culture of his region rather than being a sneak opportunist ready for any deal whatsoever.



Mubarak - "The End of the Pharao".
Title of Al-Ahram on June 9, 2012.

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News UPDATE on June 16, 2012:

Trouble after Court Intervention

- Quoted from BBC -

Egyptians are voting in a two-day run-off election to choose their first freely elected president.
..........
The build-up to this weekend's run-off has been marred by a Supreme Constitutional Court decision that parliament had to be dissolved.

On Thursday, a panel of judges - appointed by Mr Mubarak - ruled that the law governing Egypt's first democratic elections in more than six decades was unconstitutional because party members were allowed to contest seats in the lower house reserved for independents.

Mr Mursi's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) won about 100 of its 235 seats in the People's Assembly by running candidates for individual seats. The ultraconservative Salafist Nour party also enjoyed similar success in seats designated for independents.

If parliament is dissolved swiftly by the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf), whoever wins this weekend's presidential run-off could take office without the oversight of a sitting parliament, and without a permanent constitution to define his powers or duties.

Islamist, liberals and scholars denounced the ruling as a "coup", saying they feared the ruling generals would take back legislative power.

Meanwhile, the Nobel laureate and former head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, Mohamed ElBaradei, warned that Egypt was suffering under worse conditions now than under Mr Mubarak.

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Egypt's presidential election turns toxic amid anger over 'stolen revolution'

- Quoted from THE GUARDIAN / THE OBSERVER -

Egyptian dream of democracy fading, as presidential runoff sees a disillusioned electorate forced to choose between 'Islamic rule' or 'the old regime'.

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Title of Al-Ahram on June 16, 2012:

China on U.S. Sanctions against Iran

Today, June 12, the speaker of China's ministry of foreign affairs, Liu Weimin, presided over another regular meeting of journalists. Among other subjects, this meeting was dealing with China's official position in the question of U.S. economic sanctions on Iran.



On the same day, CNN had already reported that some countries should be excluded from a U.S. "blacklist" of countries after having reduced their oil imports from Iran. CNN mentioned that only China would practically remain on that list.

Here's now an official response from China published by People's Network:

外交部:中国从伊朗进口原油完全合法合理 反对单边制裁

Headline:
Foreign affairs ministry: The import of crude oil from Iran is altogether, both, legitimate and reasonable. - Unilateral sanctions [will be] opposed.

问：据报道，美方宣布美《2012财年国防授权法》有关对伊朗制裁条款不适用印度、南非、韩国、台湾等经济体。美方已全面通告中方制裁范围和紧迫性，双方仍在就制裁问题进行对话。中方对此有何回应？是否将减少自伊朗原油进口？中美双方是否正就此进行谈判？

Question:
According to reports dealing with a U.S. declaration that their "law which has been authorized [on behalf of] national defence in the fiscal year of 2012" and which is related to the clause of sanctions against Iran should not be applicable against the economies of India, South Africa, South Korea and Taiwan: The U.S. side already and all-sidedly announced the range of sanctions against and urging of the Chinese side, while both sides are still engaged in a dialogue on the subject of those sanctions. Is there any [reaction / reply] from the Chinese side to this subject ? Are there reductions in the import of Iranian crude oil or not ? Are the Chinese and American side continuing their talks or not ?

答：中方一贯反对一国根据其国内法对另一国实施单边制裁，更不接受其将单边制裁强加于第三国的做法。中国从自身经济发展需要出发，通过正常渠道从伊朗进口原油，公开透明，不违反联合国安理会有关决议，不损害第三方和国际社会的利益，完全合法合理。中方已向美方清楚表达了上述立场。

Answer:
The Chinese side is persistently opposing one country's implementation of unilateral sanctions against another country on the basis of that [acting] country's internal laws. Furthermore, [China] doesn't accept any enforcement of their unilateral sanctions [directed at] the practice of third countries. China needs to proceed [on the basis of] its own economic development, importing crude oil from Iran by using regular channels [of trade], making it public and transparent, without violating the United Nations Security Council's resolutions, without harming the interest of third countries and the international community, altogether, both, legitimate and reasonable. The Chinese side has already made itself clear to the U.S. as to the above-mentioned standpoint.

Such declaration from Beijing is most drastically opposing the statements that Israel's president Shimon Peres made in an interview with Christiane Amanpour in her show on CNN tonight. Not only does he feel "in perfect agreement" with President Obama when it comes to economic sanctions on Iran. Furthermore, he says that military action "should be in Iranian minds".

China Preparing Spectacular Space Flight

Long March rocket, propped up for last system test before launch.

Probably on June 16 in the afternoon, China should launch a Long March rocket that will carry a Shenzhou 9 spacecraft to China's first space station Tiangong for a docking test. The spacecraft should have a crew of three astronauts, most probably a woman and two men.

两位女航天员因为其过硬的飞行技术和超强的心理素质，经过重重选拔，确定为首飞女航天员乘组。

Two female astronauts because of having a perfect mastery of flight technology and very best psychological qualities, [and after] having undergone a [most challenging] selection, [are being considered as] able and calm to become the first female astronaut crew [in a flight mission].


The only two female astronauts who are fitting the selection scheme for the Shenzhou 9 mission. Both are born in 1978, Liu Yang (left) in Henan province, Wang Ya Ping (right) in Shandong province.


The Shenzhou 9 spacecraft (left) meeting with the first element of Tiangong space station (right)

Syria - Third Party Identified ?

Only two days ago, Kofi Anan mentioned a third party that should be involved in the Syrian conflict when he was speaking in front of the United Nations General Assembly.

Today, on June 9, People's Network, Beijing, had the story of "terrorists" acting in Syria on behalf of the U.S.. As this is really hard stuff on a subject I just dealt with in my last blogspot, I decided to enter that information into my blog. Believe it or not - I think the information can be checked by people more powerful than me.

土耳其海军上将：
美国支援恐怖分子在叙利亚进行屠杀

Headline:
According to a Turkish admiral, the U.S. are helping terrorists in Syria to carry out massacre(s)

谁制造了新的屠杀惨案

Subtitle:
Who fabricated the latest incident of a massacre ?

据叙利亚当地协调委员会称，6日的屠杀惨案发生在叙利亚中部哈马省库贝尔农场，造成78人死亡，叙利亚政府军应对此惨案负责。另外一种说法是，此次屠杀事件共造成百余人死亡。

According to a local coordination committee, the case of slaughtering at Qubeir in Syria's central district of Hama on [June] 6 lead to a death toll of 78. Syrian government troops should be responsible for that incident. Besides, there is another version mentioning a death toll of more than 100 produced by that massacre. ..........

在“政府军”和“反对派”之外，还有另外一种说法。针对叙国内接连发生的4起屠杀惨案，刚从土耳其战争学院辞职的土耳其海军上将图尔克尔7日认为，受美国支持和援助的恐怖分子，近几周内针对叙利亚公民和安全部队发起了恐怖攻击。图尔克尔上将指出，这些恐怖活动只是试图干涉叙内政的帝国主义国家的一种战术。

Additional to [the generally accepted version of] "Syrian military" and "opposition" [being responsible for the violence], there is yet another version:
Hinting at four related cases of slaughtering in Syria, the Turkish admiral [Turkur], and who just resigned from Turkey's war academy, considered on June 7 that terrorists, accepting U.S. support and assistance, in recent weeks staged terrorist attacks that were aimed at Syrian citizens and security units. Admiral [Turkur] pointed out that such terrorist activity is only trying to interfere with an imperialistic military tactic [applied as a consequence of] Syria's internal politics.

[Editorial remark: I am not sure whether the Turkish admiral's name is really "Turkur" as the Chinese transcription of his name might not be too accurate. However, the Chinese source, People's Network, has shown itself well informed on similar occasions in the past such that the fact itself should be considered as substantial. Maybe, it's all about just another U.S. commando action that went awfully wrong.]

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... 卓创资讯成品油分析师刘峰认为，全球经济增长形势严峻，新一轮的经济刺激计划将陆续出台，在全球流动性释放以及叙利亚动荡局势的推动下，国际油价可能出现新一轮的反弹。 ...

... With global economy on the rise, the situation is going to become grim. New rounds of economic stimulation plannings will follow one after another. Pushed forward by the global mobility [of capital] released and by the turbulent situation in Syria, the international oil prices could bring about a new round of counter-bouncing. ...

Quotation from an article in People's Network (June 9, 2012) on the predicted development of and possible influence on the prices for crude oil:

发改委回应油价降幅低于预期：主要有四原因

" Bringing change by indirect response to the expected dropping of oil prices - Four important reasons "

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Latest news on Syria by Al-Arabiya on June 10:

تجاذب بين "الوطني السوري" وموسكو حول دور إيران

Affinity between "Patriotic Syria" and Moscow on the subject of Iran's role [in the conflict].

لافروف دعا إلى مشاركة طهران في مؤتمر دولي حول سوريا.. والمعارضة تتحفظ

[Russia's foreign secretary] Lavrov is calling for a collaboration of Tehran in an international conference on Syria ... while the opposition is on its guard.

For additional information on Syria, refer as well to my last blogspot !

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Strange Coincidence

In the same edition of People's Network, Beijing on June 9, I found another unusual article that I'm partly quoting below:

综合国外媒体报道，当地时间6月7日晚间，以色列、叙利亚以及一些中东地区国家上空出现神秘的光束漩涡，众多目击者认为看到了UFO。不过，媒体事后得知奇怪光束可能来自俄罗斯的洲际弹道导弹试射。

Manifold foreign media reported at local time on the evening of June 7 the appearance of a mysterious light beam, [resembling] a travelling whirl, in the sky over Israel, Syria and some other Middle Eastern countries. Numerous eyewitnesses considered having seen an UFO. However, afterwards the media had to inform that [the observed] strange light beam probably came from the test of a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile.

The actual phenomenon was compared with a similar incident in 2009 when the light effects were even more clearly to be observed:

Light effects over Israel in 2012:


Light effects over Norway in 2009:


When I found this article, I was originally looking for some news on an alleged meeting between Russia and China that should now take place in Beijing and be dealing with the Syrian subject. Such information had been announced by CNN some hours before. Unfortunately, I didn't find any further news on that meeting in the semi-official Chinese source.

United Nations - Kofi Anan Reporting on Syria

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon greeting Nabil al-
Arabi, Secretary General of the Arab League (above)

Today, Kofi Anan, special envoy of the United Nations for Syria, delivered his report to the General Assembly on latest developments of his mission. Anan told the assembly of another massacre that left children and their mothers dead in a Syrian village just the day before. He stressed that even though his six-point plan has not been realized up to now, it would be a mistake to resort to [military] interference as there seems to be a third party involved in the conflict.

In another speech, held some minutes earlier, the Secretary General of the Arab League, Nabil al-Arabi, had already pointed out that Syria was on the brink of a civil war while UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon had stated before that the Syrian leadership lost its legitimacy when it refused to implement Kofi Anan's propositions in order to end the conflict.

Nabil al-Arabi and Kofi Anan speaking (below):


كوفي عنان: قبل ثلاثة أشهر بدأت مهمتي الصعبة في سوريا بتكليف من الأمم المتحدة و [جماعة] الدول العربية

Kofi Anan: About three months [ago] began my difficult mission in Syria on behalf of the United Nations and the community of Arab nations.

يؤسفني أن أبلغكم بأن خطتي في سوريا لم تطبق

I regret to inform you that my plan has not been applied in Syria.

Latest massacres in Qubeir near Hama
as referred to by Kofi Annan (below):


Syria's chief delegate - obviously feeling uneasy (below):


Many nations, represented in the United Nations General Assembly, are disturbed by the actual extent of violence in Syria. However, a change of politics will be difficult to achieve as Russia and China are still decided to block any further pressure on the Assad regime in Damascus. Furthermore, Venezuela recently joined Iran as Syria's principal ally after having passed a solidarity agreement that is considering U.S. influence as an "imperial threat" to Syria. Therefore, those who are suffering from shelling by Syrian military units and unrestrained killings by pro-Assad militias should not be too hopeful.

Explosion of a Syrian army tank in Ariha City on June 5 (below):


The Chinese delegate's response after the speech of Kofi Anan, at least, is showing some pity for the victims of violence. However, it is still not clear whether this would lead to a real change of the Chinese position in the United Nations Security Council.

مندوب الصين: يجب على أطراف الصراع في سوريا أن تقدم دعما لخطة عنان و توقف أعمال العنف

China's delegate: [We] are wishing for the [regions] of fighting in Syria that support would arrive for the plan of [Kofi] Anan and that acts of violence would stop.

Diplomatic timeline of the Syrian conflict (below):