This citizen journalism image taken on Thursday, April 25, 2013 and provided by Edlib News Network, ENN, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a wounded Syrian man holding his injured son after an air raid on the northwestern town of Saraqeb in the province of Idlib, Syria. The White House disclosure Thursday that the Syrian government has twice used chemical weapons still leaves the Obama administration stuck with a limited choice of military options to help the rebels oust President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Edlib News Network ENN)
This citizen journalism image taken on Thursday, April 25, 2013 and provided by Edlib News Network, ENN, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a wounded Syrian man holding his injured son after an air raid on the northwestern town of Saraqeb in the province of Idlib, Syria. The White House disclosure Thursday that the Syrian government has twice used chemical weapons still leaves the Obama administration stuck with a limited choice of military options to help the rebels oust President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Edlib News Network ENN)
This citizen journalism image taken on Thursday, April 25, 2013 and provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows members of the free Syrian Army preparing their weapons, in the neighborhood of al-Amerieh in Aleppo, Syria. The White House disclosure on Thursday that the Syrian government has twice used chemical weapons still leaves the Obama administration stuck with a limited choice of military options to help the rebels oust President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC)
This April 13, 2013 citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a doctor treating a woman injured in what rebels claim was a chemical attack in Aleppo, Syria. Two Syrian officials denied Friday, April 26, 2013 that government forces had used chemical weapons against rebels, Damascus' first response to U.S. assertions that it had. On Thursday, the White House and other top Obama administration officials said that U.S. intelligence had concluded with "varying degrees of confidence" that the Syrian government has twice used chemical weapons in its civil war.(AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC)
This citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows anti Syrian regime protesters holding banners and waving the Syrian revolutionary flags during a demonstration, in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, April 26, 2013. Araboc on banners read: "we call upon the Free Syrian Army brigades and the Mujahedeen to stop the military convoy in the city of al-Safira," left, and "all what Kerry has is the laughing cow cheese ."(AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC)
In this screen shot from amateur video provided by Ronahi TV, a man foams at the mouth and twitches while lying on a stretcher at a hospital in Syria. The video is consistent with AP reporting of an attack in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in Aleppo on April 13, although it was not known if the symptoms resembled those triggered by a chemical weapons attack. A defense analyst who viewed the video of the victims lying on stretchers after the attack said that, while it was impossible to verify that a nerve agent caused their symptoms, they appeared to be the result of something other than traditional weaponry. (AP Photo/Ronahi TV) RONAHI TV IS A KURDISH NETWORK, IT IS NOT A RECOGNISED NEWS GATHERING ORGANISATION. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL
BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian opposition groups called Friday for international action after the Obama administration said U.S. intelligence indicates President Bashar Assad's regime has used chemical weapons. The government likened the accusation to false U.S. claims of weapons of mass destruction used to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Washington's declaration was its strongest so far, although the administration said it was still working to pin down definitive proof ? holding back from saying Damascus had outright crossed what President Barack Obama has said would be a "red line" prompting tougher action.
The rebels accused regime forces of firing chemical agents on at least four occasions since December, killing 31 people in the worst of the attacks, and warned that world inaction would only encourage Assad to use them on a larger scale.
The Obama administration said Thursday that intelligence indicates government forces used the nerve gas sarin in two attacks.
The regime countered that it was the rebels who fired chemical weapons ? pointing to their capture of a chemical factory last year as proof of their ability to do so. On Friday, government officials repeated denials the military had used the weapons.
Both sides have used the issue to try to sway world opinion.
"The red line has been crossed, and this has now been documented by the international community. We hope the U.S. will abide by the red line set by Mr. Obama himself," Loay al-Mikdad, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army, the umbrella group for rebel fighters, told The Associated Press.
"We need urgent action, otherwise Bashar Assad will not hesitate to use his entire chemical and unconventional weapons stockpile against the Syrian people," he said.
Most Assad opponents say the U.S. and its allies should now arm the rebels in response to regime use of chemical weapons, a step Washington has been reluctant to take for fear the weapons will end up in the hands of Islamic hard-liners. Some have urged international airstrikes against regime warplanes and rocket launchers that have wreaked havoc on rebel forces. Few, however, advocate direct international intervention on the ground.
At the White House, Obama said Friday that any use of chemical weapons by Syria would be a "game changer," though he cautioned the United States needs more evidence that Assad has used the deadly agents against his people.
He said the U.S., along with the United Nations, would seek to "gather evidence on the ground" in Syria to solidify intelligence assessments.
State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said Friday that the U.S. is "working to establish credible and corroborative facts to build on this intelligence assessment" and to definitively say "whether or not the president's red line has been crossed."
Asked about Syria's denials, he said that "if the regime has nothing to hide, they should let the U.N. investigators in immediately so we can get to the bottom of this."
Use of chemical weapons would bring a frightening wild-card element to Syria's 2-year-old civil war, which is estimated to have already killed more than 70,000 people. Throughout the conflict, civilian casualties have been heavy as regime forces batter rebel-held towns, neighborhoods and cities with artillery, rockets and warplanes.
Still, the chemical attacks the rebels claim the regime carried out, if confirmed, would appear to be relatively small-scale and localized.
Bilal Saab, director of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, North America, said if the regime is behind them, it may be trying to make detection as difficult as possible and to maintain plausible deniability.
"The government may also feel that the time for full-on use of chemical weapons has not come yet. It may also be indirectly communicating with Western powers and testing their resolve," he said.
If the rebels were using them as the regime claims, it would be a "strategic blunder," given how it would taint the movement, he said, adding that one possible scenario is that they were carried out by extremists within the rebel movement.
In December, after rebels seized control of a chlorine factory in Aleppo, the government warned the opposition might be planning a chemical attack to frame the regime. To back up its claims, the state-run SANA news agency pointed to videos posted on YouTube that purported to show regime opponents experimenting with poisons on mice and rabbits. The origin of the videos was not known.
It is not clear exactly how many people have died in alleged chemical attacks because of the scarcity of credible information. The Syrian government seals off areas it controls to journalists and outside observers, making details of the attacks extremely sketchy.
Al-Mikdad said the opposition has documented four attacks based on air and soil samples and the blood of victims, in addition to eyewitness accounts. He said the results have been shared with Western countries, though he declined to name them.
The deadliest was on the village of Khan al-Assal near the northern city of Aleppo, where at least 31 people were killed in March.
The village is controlled by the government, and the regime accused rebels of firing a missile carrying chemical agents.
The opposition contends it was regime fire. Aleppo-based activist Mohammed Saeed said the army appeared to have hit government troops by mistake, inflicting casualties among them and then blaming the opposition. Neither side has offered evidence to back their claims.
In another alleged chemical attack, a government air raid on April 13 on the contested Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in Aleppo killed at least four people and wounded more than a dozen others. Activists say doctors treating the wounded said many showed symptoms of inhaling a toxic gas, including severe vomiting and irritation to the nose and eyes.
Eyewitnesses speaking in a video allegedly taken a day after the attack and posted online by activists reported that an explosion left several people unconscious and others reporting aches and dizziness.
"There was a smell, so we went out and I felt dizzy and my eyes turned red," a young boy said.
Another video showed several people on stretchers at a hospital, some twitching and foaming at the mouth and nose.
The videos were consistent with AP reporting of an attack in the area on April 13, although it was not known if the symptoms resembled those triggered by a chemical weapons attack.
A defense analyst who viewed the video of the victims lying on stretchers after the attack said that, while it was impossible to verify that a nerve agent caused their symptoms, they appeared to be the result of something other than traditional weaponry.
"What you're immediately struck by is this is not your normal ordnance ... that it seems of a different type," said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
"Now whether that automatically guarantees that it is a specific nerve agent, I wouldn't go so far as to say based on my knowledge. But it does have the effect, it does have the appearance of being something caused by something besides traditional explosives or penetrating metal," O'Hanlon said.
Activists reported two other alleged chemical attacks, including one in December in the central city of Homs in which they said six rebels died after inhaling white smoke pouring from shells fired on the area.
Videos of the aftermath of that attack showed men in hospital beds coughing and struggling to breathe as doctors placed oxygen masks on their faces.
"The smell was like hydrochloric acid. People started choking and I wasn't able to breath," a man identified as a rebel said in a video posted online after the attack by activists.
The video appeared genuine and corresponded to AP reporting of violence in Homs in December, although it was impossible to verify if the symptoms were triggered by a chemical weapons attack.
The Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, said the group has documented the two attacks in Aleppo province, but did not have proof of the other two.
A Syrian government official denied the government carried out any chemical attacks, saying Assad's military "did not and will not use chemical weapons even if it had them." The army, he said, can reach any area in Syria it wants without them.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements.
A Syrian lawmaker, Sharif Shehadeh, echoed that assertion, saying the Syrian army "can win the war with traditional weapons" and has no need for chemical weapons.
Syria's official policy is to neither confirm nor deny it has chemical weapons.
Shehadeh likened the allegations to the false accusations that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction that U.S. policymakers used to justify the 2003 invasion.
"What is being designed for Syria now is similar to what happened in Iraq," he said.
Following the Khan al-Assal attack, the government called for the United Nations to investigate alleged chemical weapons use by rebels.
Syria, however, has not allowed a team of experts into the country because it wants the investigation limited to the single Khan al-Assal incident, while U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged "immediate and unfettered access" for an expanded investigation.
U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Friday that U.N. disarmament chief Angela Kane wrote another letter to Syrian authorities on Thursday urging the government to grant access to the U.N. chemical weapons experts without conditions.
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AP reporter Albert Aji contributed to this report.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-26-Syria/id-565ea638475e42bd9fad18245b752f5a
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Purchext, a new app/service that increases communication between parents, their youngsters and the purchases their youngsters make, is on display at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2013. The concept behind the startup is a way for parents to approve purchases their kids are making. In reality, it works more like a way for kids to submit expense reports to their parents. For each purchase a dependent minor makes, they can scan the receipts with the Purchext app and those receipts are submitted to their parents for approval. If the parent approves it, the amount of money on the receipt will be released to the kid’s bank account that is connected to their Purchext account. In practical terms, the service can also be automated via a series of rules set up to filter purchases. I’m not going to say the concept is not “gameable” by the kids using it. Surely enterprising minors could figure out ways around this, or could forgo submitting those purchases altogether. However as a concept, it could still streamline allowances and keep many relevant purchases on parents’ radar.
After 24 hours of staring at their screens, the teams that participated in our?Disrupt NY 2013?Hackathon?have now finished their projects?and are currently presenting them onstage. With more than 160 hacks, there are far too many cool ones to write about, but one that stood out to me was NewsRel, an iPad-based news app that uses machine-learning techniques to understand how news stories relate to one other. The app uses Google Maps as its main interface and automatically decides which location is most appropriate for any given story. The app currently uses Reuters‘ RSS feed and analyzes the stories, looking for clusters of related stories and then puts them on the map. Say you are looking at a story about the Boston Marathon bombings. The app, of course, will show you a number of news stories about it clustered around Boston, then maybe something about the president’s comments about it from Washington and another article that relates it to the massacre during the Munich Olympics in 1972. In addition to this, the team built an algorithm that picks the most important sentences from each story to summarize it for you. As you scroll through the stories, the app always recalculates the related stories on the fly, too, which makes for a pretty interesting news-reading experience. Besides the map, the team also decided to develop the user interface around gestures, so you swipe down to read the full story on the news service’s webpage and you can swipe left and right to scroll from one story to the next The team members have a background in machine learning and iOS engineering. They met during their undergrad studies a few years ago and decided to team up for the hackathon. They told me that they plan to keep working on the app and release it in the near future.
This continues?our series?highlighting new positions posted at Twitter each week.?Check out past listings?here.
And here they are:
We’re on the ground in New York City at the Disrupt Hackathon and there are a lot of interesting things being created. Since I’m walking around wearing Google Glass, I’ve obviously been looking for teams building apps for it. I met up with Jonathan Gottfried, Twilio’s Developer Evangelist, and he built a quick and dirty app called GlassTweet, which lets you share photos to Twitter, rather than the out-of-the-box experience of sending shots to Google+. Once you’ve installed the app and connected it to Glass and your Twitter account, a new contact comes up that you can share to, called “Tweet”: The excitement about developing for Glass reminds me of the early days on Apple’s App Store. Gottfried explained: “It’s a great platform and being able to create all of the fundamental apps for people is a tremendous opportunity.” There are only a few people testing GlassTweet out right now, but I imagine that small apps like this will be installed by most of the community who are looking for inspiration. It would be interesting to see a photo gallery of those who are using the app as well, perhaps with some geographic location attached to the photo. You can’t tweet videos yet, but Gottfried tells me that the feature is coming soon. During the Glass Collective announcement this month, Kleiner Perkins partner John Doerr mentioned that Twitter was thinking about working on its own app, and it’ll be interesting to see how they adapt their service for the small screen. Surely you don’t want every mention or reply lighting up in front of your face. At least I don’t. Gottfried has built a few Glass apps so far, including ones that lets you purchase a dedicated number through Twilio for texting. Let the Glass games begin. [Photo credit: Flickr]
