The BBC's Lina Sinjab in Damascus says humans took the streets afresh on Friday calling for President Basher Assad to leave office

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Hundreds of bags of humans accept taken allotment in anti-government protests beyond Syria, admitting the advancing crackdown on dissent, letters say.

Human rights activists said at atomic 14 humans were asleep by aegis forces.

People took the streets in the capital, Damascus, and in several cities and towns, in what the activity declared as the better demonstrations yet.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned that time is active out for Syria's government to conductor in reforms.

Speaking during a appointment to Lithuania, she said President Bashar al-Assad would face added organised attrition to his 10-year aphorism unless the country saw "a 18-carat alteration to democracy".

Human rights groups say added than 1,350 civilians and 350 aegis cadre accept been asleep back protests began in mid-March.

The government has abhorrent the protests on armed gangs.

Mr Assad has promised a civic chat on political reforms, but abounding protesters are ambitious that he angle down immediately.

'God, Syria, Bashar'

Hundreds of bags of humans abounding demonstrations beyond Syria afterwards Friday prayers. Some activists put the amount of protesters at three million.

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Hundreds of bags are chanting 'Leave, leave, the humans wish the abatement of the regime.' All of Hama is celebrating¡±

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Hama resident

About bisected a actor were said to accept abutting the better protest, in the axial city-limits of Hama, admitting that amount could not be confirmed.

One Hama citizen told the BBC Arabic: "Hundreds of bags are chanting 'Leave, leave, the humans wish the abatement of the regime.'"

"All of Hama is celebrating. There are humans chanting from their windows and from the fronts of their homes. All of Hama is on the streets today."

Hama was the arena of a barbarous crackdown in 1982 ordered by Hafez al-Assad, the president's backward father, which larboard at atomic 10,000 dead.

In Homs, to the south of Hama, six humans were reportedly attempt asleep and several afflicted as government troops accursed on protesters - armoured cars were deployed in the Bab Amr commune of the city, activists said.

Two humans were reportedly asleep during a beef in the Damascus suburb of al-Qadam. Six others were asleep in the north-western Idlib province, Darayya, alfresco Damascus, and aswell in the littoral boondocks of Latakia, the activists added.

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AdvertisementMrs Clinton said she was "hurt" by letters of abandon in Aleppo

At atomic 20 humans were said to accept been blood-soaked in clashes with aegis armament afterwards boot through the Midan commune of Damascus and chanting: "Bashar out, Syria is free." Dozens were reportedly arrested beyond the country.

State television gave a altered afterlife toll, adage gunmen had asleep one being in Damascus and two humans in Homs, including a policeman.

The abstracts could be apart absolute as the Syrian authorities accept banned a lot of adopted media from the country.

Protests were aswell staged in Syria's second-largest city, Aleppo, area badge accursed breach gas, in the eastern city-limits of Deir al-Zour, the north-eastern boondocks of Amouda, and the southern boondocks of Suweida.

State TV aired images of pro-government rallies in Aleppo It showed humans bouncing civic flags and chanting "God, Syria, Bashar, only."

'Genuine transition'

The Syrian Revolution 2011 accumulation on Facebook had alleged on protesters to about-face out afterwards Friday prayers, with the bulletin to Mr Assad: "We don't adulation you... Go away, you and your party."

Pro-government demonstrations were aswell captivated in Damascus and several added towns on Friday, with marchers adage they backed Mr Assad's pledges to reform.

Protests accept advance to Aleppo, Syria's additional city, activists say The latest anti-Assad protests chase the afterlife of three added humans brief in the north-western arena of Jabal al-Zawiyah, activists said - two in the boondocks of al-Bara and one in the adjacent apple of Brim.

AFP aswell quoted activists as adage there had been explosions on Friday in the littoral city-limits of Latakia.

Speaking beforehand on Friday, Mrs Clinton said the Syrian authorities "know what they accept to do".

"They have to activate a 18-carat alteration to capitalism and acceptance one affair of the activity in Damascus is not acceptable activity against accomplishing that goal," she said.

''It is actually bright that the Syrian government is active out of time.

"They are either traveling to acquiesce a austere political action that will cover peaceful protests to yield abode throughout Syria and appoint in a advantageous chat with associates of the activity and civilian society, or they're traveling to abide to see more organised resistance."

..WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Timothy Geithner may be absorption about dispatch down as Treasury secretary but Admiral Barack Obama has abounding acumen to try to allocution him out of it, not atomic that accomplishing so would abstain a able-bodied assumption battle.

Given the poisonous political atmosphere on Capitol Hill, accepting a new Treasury arch through Senate choice hearings and a vote in which some Republican abutment would about absolutely be bare would be a attempt in itself.

Beyond that, the action of allotment a almsman would actualize a date for the administration's Republican opponents to highlight the economy's continuing woes just as Obama prepares for a boxy 2012 reelection bid.

Simply award a applicant to arch some of the bisect amidst the White House and Republican assembly and to accord with a business association advancing beneath tougher authoritative analysis would be a challenge.

"The being can't accept a begrimed body from Wall Street's sins, but aswell can't be a Democratic hack," said Larry Sabato, administrator of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.

Obama thinks Geithner has done an accomplished job and wants him to stay, and analysts say the admiral has affluence of affidavit to try to actuate him to do so.

William Cline, a arch adolescent at the Peterson Institute, says he thinks it is abortive to allocution about Geithner leaving.

"I anticipate we're not absolutely out of the banking crisis yet, and so for that acumen you wish anyone at Treasury who is absolutely abreast with all the crisis issues," he said.

OBAMA'S POLICIES ON TRIAL

Geithner is the endure of Obama's aboriginal bread-and-butter team, a trusted adviser who came in during aboriginal 2009 to advice beacon the abridgement out of the affliction of the 2007-2009 banking crisis and into what is still a brittle recovery.

He is because dispatch down if an acceding to backpack the nation's $14.3 abundance debt absolute is assuredly reached, according to sources accustomed with his thinking. The sources said he has not fabricated a final decision.

Geithner has warned that the debt absolute needs to be aloft by August 2 to abstain a U.S. default, admitting talks over a amalgamation of account cuts that would accord assembly political awning to accession the absolute accept torn down in acrimony.

The Treasury chief, who was the arch of the New York Federal Reserve Bank if the banking crisis broke, belted if asked about his plans, but with his ancestors affective to New York in a few months and afterwards several arduous years, he has acumen to wish to leave.

One of Obama's problems is that his reelection bid will be fought in a altitude brave by a anemic economy, assiduous top unemployment and huge account deficits -- all issues that a Treasury arch is accepted to cope with.

Any appointee would accept to acclimate hearings that could play into the easily of Obama's opponents, who would use them as a appointment to put the administration's behavior on trial.

"It gives the Republicans befalling to assail the almanac of the Obama administering and accept a civic date for a agitation on jobs and the economy," said Ethan Siegal, an analyst with The Washington Exchange.

WILD-EYED ADVOCATE?

If Geithner does allotment means with the administration, Obama may seek a applicant who could calm the amnion by bridging some of the abrupt brainy bisect amidst Capitol Hill Republicans and Democrats over issues like taxes.

"He may wish to aces a Republican, a Bob Gates array of person," said the University of Virginia's Sabato, apropos to the above aegis secretary who served both Obama and George W. Bush.

Some analysts accept speculated Obama ability wish to columnist New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a ancient Republican, into service, or conceivably about-face to JPMorgan Chase's arch executive, Jamie Dimon, although he is said not to be interested.

A Republican aldermanic abettor said an Obama appointee would acceptable be accepted if the being is aboveboard and not a "wild-eyed advocate" for the left's agenda.

"If they aces a accustomed candidate, I anticipate it would set them up for some diffuse agitation on the economy," the abettor said. "If they aces a afire apostle who wants to abutment their college akin of spending and thinks college taxes will be a acceptable affair ... they would accept a harder time accepting that one confirmed."

Democrats would charge a scattering of Republican votes to accumulate the 60-vote allowance that would be bare to affected any procedural hurdles in the 100-seat Senate.

The Peterson Institute's Cline said the political calculus argues for anyone with Republican credentials, but acclaimed that it ability be a alpine adjustment to ample amidst a angry agitation about whether some tax increases are bare to abutting the U.S. account gap.

"I'm not abiding how abounding Republican candidates for Treasury secretary you're traveling to acquisition who'd be accommodating to accomplish the case that some tax increases are necessary," Cline said.

(Additional advertisement by David Lawder, Steve Holland and Jeff Mason; alteration by Leslie Adler)

...

After about six months of proceedings, News Corp. has assuredly rid itself of MySpace. It awash the afflicted amusing website to a abstruse commercial aggregation alleged Specific Media for $35 million, a beggarly bulk compared to the $580 actor News Corp. shelled out to access MySpace in 2005.

It would be inaccurate to artlessly decrease $35 actor from $580 actor and appraisal that News Corp absent $545 actor on MySpace, back it fails to admit the bulk the media aggregation spent active the business, and after aggravating to alleviate it. News Corp. absolutely took a ablution with MySpace, but the admeasurement of that ablution is added Olympic-sized basin than it is basal auberge allowance tub. As Ars Technica's Anders Bylund credibility out, including operating costs, News Corp acceptable absent at atomic $1 billion dollars on the bedevilled site.

"All things considered, MySpace has amount Murdoch's authority something like $1.3 billion," Bylund writes. "Even if my assumptions are way off, the final amount can't be beneath than $1 billion."

But even with ample losses, as a whole, News Corp. isn't hurting.

"That abortion isn't putting [News Corp. arch Rupert] Murdoch out of business: News Corp. angry a $2.9 billion accumulation in the endure four abode and generated $2.2 billion in chargeless banknote flow, for example," Bylund continues. "But it still stings as Murdoch's dreams of an end-to-end alternate media authority avalanche apart. And his shareholders accept been abaft the broader bazaar as able-bodied as rivals Viacom and Disney over those 5 aching years."

Bylund addendum that addition out the specifics of the banking implications of MySpace is complicated; News Corp never abundant MySpace's numbers alone, rather it appear on the analysis MySpace was a allotment of.

When News Corp. airtight up MySpace six years ago, it was a able website and the top amusing network, growing to 90 actor registered users by 2006. Meanwhile, Facebook was on the sidelines, mostly acclimated by academy students. Back then, Facebook has developed to be far and abroad the top amusing website with a accounted 700 actor members, while MySpace has become a abomination that News Corp. struggled to accoutrements off.

The data of what Specific Media affairs to do with MySpace accept not been revealed. However, accompanist Justin Timberlake, who has a pale in the company, will action cardinal direction.