Syrian President Bashar al-Assad defied expectations Wednesday when he made no mention of lifting a state of emergency in a national address.
He acknowledged that Syrians want reform and that the government has not met their needs in a rambling 45-minute speech to the National Assembly, but he made few concrete promises after weeks of anti-government demonstrations that have left 73 people dead, according to Human Rights Watch.
Al-Assad spoke a day after the Syrian cabinet resigned amid an unusual wave of unrest across the nation. Simmering tensions heightened after the speech in Damascus when a woman approached the president's car and waved her hand at its occupants.
Several people walking alongside the car -- apparently security officers -- took hold of and restrained the woman as others in the crowd surged forward. (read more)
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