World Press on crisis in Syria, American drone detected in Iran and Obama's struggle against human rights abusers (April 23, 2012)

The situation in Syria continues to be at the center of attention of the world media. At least 57 deaths have been reported in the Syrian city of Homs on Friday amidst the official ceasefire, the Los Angeles Times reports. "Meanwhile, the situation in the country continues to slide back to where it was before the ceasefire, especially in places where the monitors have yet to visit, such as Homs, Hama and Idlib," the author of the article "Syria street protests met with force" wrote.
On April 22 the Washington Post published an article entitled "Fears of extremism taking hold in Syria as violence continues." "As Syria’s revolution drags into its second year amid few signs that a U.N.-mandated cease-fire plan will end the violence, evidence is mounting that Islamist extremists are seeking to commandeer what began as a non-ideological uprising aimed at securing greater political freedom," the author of the article believes. The newspaper states that in the last weeks a growing number of Islamist radicals affiliated with global jihadi movements have been joining the opposition rallies and protested among civilians. The jihadi groups are arriving to Syria from Iraq and Jordan. Amidst new deaths, the newspaper warns that "if the United Nations’ peace plan fails to end the government’s bloody crackdown and promises of Western and Arab help for the rebel Free Syrian Army do not materialize, activists and analysts say, there is a real risk that frustrated members of the opposition will be driven toward extremism, adding a dangerous dimension to a revolt that is threatening to destabilize a wide arc of territory across the Middle East."'
The discovery of an American spy drone in Iran is also at the center of media attention. "Iran: Data Recovered from U.S. Drone" is an article published by Time magazine. On Sunday Iran claimed that it had managed to retract information from the US drone found on its territory. According to Iranian officials the drone revealed data regarding surveillance of Osama bin Laden before he was killed, among other information. The US officials stated that it would have been impossible for Iran to recover the data from the found drone. This week China and Russia asked Iran to provide them with the information on the drone. "One area where there is concern is whether Iran or other states could reverse-engineer the chemical composition of the drone's radar-deflecting paint or the aircraft's sophisticated optics technology that allows operators to positively identify terror suspects from tens of thousands of feet in the air," the article says.
"Obama targets foreign nationals’ use of new technologies in human rights abuses," an article published by the Washington Post is dedicated to the executive order issued by US President Barack Obama to target foreign nationals who were found to have used technologies such as cellphone tracking and internet monitoring in order to abuse human rights. "Social media and cellphone technology have been widely credited with helping democracy advocates organize against autocratic governments and better expose rights violations, most notably over the past year and a half in the Middle East and North Africa," the article says. According to the Washington Post, Obama's order is directed mostly against companies and individuals assisting officials in Syria and Iran to block access to the internet in their countries, but could be targeted at other countries in the future. Obama also announced a number of government grants to help develop technologies that could enable people in countries with mass killing to promptly receive information about impending dangers.