syria?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New%20Campaign&utm_term
=%2ASituation%20Report
The death toll from air strikes in the Deir al-Asafir district southeast of Damascus has risen to 33, mostly women and children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. - Reuters
Mohamed Alkhateb writes: Our message to the West and to the international community is this: don’t act as though you are blind to Assad’s crimes. As you penalise Isis, you must penalise Assad's regime in equal measure. He is the essence of the problem in Syria - and both him and Isis are the enemies of normal Syrian people. - Independent
A well-known independent Russian journalist, Dmitry Tsilikin, has been found dead in his apartment in St. Petersburg. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Nearly two years after President Putin toughened criminal penalties for some forms of public demonstrations, reporters at the news portal 66.ru, in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, set about trying to highlight the vagaries of the new rules. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Russia is preparing an "asymmetric" response to the increase in NATO troop rotation in Eastern Europe, and in particular the United States' military presence near Russian borders, Russia's ambassador to NATO said on March 31. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Editorial: In reality, the would-be superpower statesman appears utterly unwilling, or unable, to enforce his writ on a glorified gangster. Either Mr. Putin is far weaker, and his grip on power less secure, than many in the West assume — or he is complicit in acts that should disqualify him from being a strategic partner. – Washington Post