|
Trending Topics
|
A Year into Syrian Uprising, Damascus Is Transformed
(AP-Washington Post) Shops and restaurants close early in Damascus these days. Blast walls and checkpoints ring government buildings to guard against car bombs. Residents struggle with spiraling prices and power outages. Damascus, once considered one of the safest cities in the world, is now grim with fears for the future. Electricity outages lasting up to 12 hours a day have forced residents to buy private generators. Prices have tripled in the past few months, and companies have begun laying off employees or slashing salaries. Life in upscale Damascus areas seems relatively normal. But lower-class neighborhoods dominated by Sunni Muslims, who have been the backbone of the revolt, see frequent, small-scale anti-Assad rallies.