Syria sinks deeper into the bloodbath - Middle East - World - The Independent

Charlotte McDonald-Gibson

Charlotte Philby

ON MATERNITY LEAVE. Charlotte Philby is a writer and reporter at The Independent, currently based on the news desk after six years on the Saturday magazine. She has been shortlisted for the 2013 Cudlipp award for excellence in popular journalism for an undercover investigative into a website offering students up to £15,000 in return for sex. She has also written for cultural magazines including Dazed & Confused and NYLON and contributed to several books, among them a biography of French street artist Blek Le Rat. A mother and born-and-bred Londoner, she spends most of her free time working on her first crime fiction novel.

More articles from this journalist

Follow Charlotte Philby

Syria's most populous city, Aleppo, was struck by a double suicide bombing yesterday, killing at least 28 people in an attack the regime described as proof that it was facing a "terrorist" uprising but which opposition activists alleged was another attempt to detract from government abuses.

The attacks came on a day of nationwide rallies against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. In Damascus, The Independent witnessed defiance as protesters flooded the streets after Friday prayers to show solidarity with the besieged city of Homs, only to be met by the regime's firepower.

Most Viewed
Most Commented
Most Shared

SPONSORED FEATURES

How will you make today delicious?

Tell us how you plan to make today delicious and you could win a £50 M&S gift card.

Sweden prize Reader survey Visit Norway

Visit Wallonia redspottedhanky Nook

Prizes & offers Business videos

Win a three-night weekend break for two in Stockholm

Hesperus Press are offering the chance to win a three-night weekend away for two to Stockholm.

M&S prizes Reader survey Visit Norway

Visit Wallonia redspottedhanky Nook

Prizes & offers Business videos

Summer food reader survey

Take our grocery shopping survey for your chance to win a £100 M&S store gift card.

M&S prizes Sweden prize Visit Norway

Visit Wallonia redspottedhanky Nook

Prizes & offers Business videos

See Norway’s spectacular coastline

There is no finer way to discover and explore the dramatic Norwegian coastline than aboard an authentic Hurtigruten cruise.

M&S prizes Sweden prize Reader survey

Visit Wallonia redspottedhanky Nook

Prizes & offers Business videos

Where's Wallonia?

War and peace: history revisited in the cities of Southern Belgium - a travel guide in association with the Belgian Tourist Office.

M&S prizes Sweden prize Reader survey

Visit Norway redspottedhanky Nook

Prizes & offers Business videos

Win first-class inter-rail passes

Win first-class rail passes to explore the sights and sounds of Europe with redspottedhanky.com.

M&S prizes Sweden prize Reader survey

Visit Norway Visit Wallonia Nook

Prizes & offers Business videos

Celebrate the joy of reading with NOOK®

You can buy a NOOK Simple Touch Glowlight at £69, or the NOOK HD 8GB Tablet for just £99 - until 3 September.

M&S prizes Sweden prize Reader survey

Visit Norway Visit Wallonia redspottedhanky

Prizes & offers Business videos

Enter the latest Independent competitions

Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.

M&S prizes Sweden prize Reader survey

Visit Norway Visit Wallonia redspottedhanky

Nook Business videos

Business videos from commercial thought leaders

Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.

M&S prizes Sweden prize Reader survey

Visit Norway Visit Wallonia redspottedhanky

Nook Prizes & offers

Independent Dating

Show Me

Between: and

Location:

By clicking 'Search' you
are agreeing to our
Terms of Use.

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness

Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in

Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives

What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win

'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?

From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist

'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end