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                  Live: Blast Strikes at Assad's Inner Circle

   by VOA News

   15:56 UTC: The Unites States has announced sanctions against 29 Syrian
   government officials.  The move freezes any assets the officials may
   have in U.S. jurisdictions and prohibits Americans from doing business
   with them.
   The Treasury Department also announced Wednesday that it has targeted
   five companies with ties to Syria's weapons program.
   15:25 UTC: Arab League foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting
   in Doha, Qatar, Sunday to discuss the latest developments in Syria
   15:20 UTC: Official statement from the Syrian government on the
   bombing.

   IFRAME: [1]http://www.youtube.com/embed/fDg7vz22feQ

   15:10 UTC: "It's obvious that what is happening in Syria represents a
   real escalation in the fighting and that all of the concerns that we've
   expressed about the need for Assad to step down, the need for a
   peaceful transition, the need to achieve a peaceful solution to that
   situation. That by ignoring those appeals by the international
   community, that the violence there has only gotten worse and the loss
   of life is only increased. Which tells us that this is a situation that
   is rapidly spinning out of control."
   --Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, commenting on the bombing that killed
   at least two senior Syrian officials

     Just walked around national security building and saw no sign of
     explosions, no broken window, no heavy security presence
     [2]#Damascus [3]#Syria
     -- Lina Sinjab (@BBCLinaSinjab) [4]July 18, 2012

   14:34 UTC: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan , at a news
   conference in Moscow with Russian president, says the will of the
   Syrian people should determine what happens in Syria. Turkey wants
   "massacre" in Syria to come to an end.
   14:27 UTC: Al Jazeera reports gunfire in some neighborhoods around
   capital.  Reports of rebels armed with knives roaming through some
   neighborhoods.  Activists say military has deployed tanks around
   presidential palace.
   14:26 UTC: Live video purportedly streamed from a rooftop in the Maidan
   neighborhood in Damascus, Syria.

   IFRAME: [5]http://embed.bambuser.com/broadcast/2836864
   Your browser does not support iframes.
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   [6]http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-live-updates-071812/1418856.htm
   l

References

   1. http://www.youtube.com/embed/fDg7vz22feQ
   2. https://twitter.com/search/%2523Damascus
   3. https://twitter.com/search/%2523Syria
   4. https://twitter.com/BBCLinaSinjab/status/225595169767043074
   5. http://embed.bambuser.com/broadcast/2836864
   6. http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-live-updates-071812/1418856.html