US Closes Embassy in Syria after Bloody Weekend

The US State Department announced today that the United States has "suspended operations of our embassy in Damascus" and all American personnel have left the country because of "serious concerns that our embassy is not protected from armed attack." The news came as opposition groups reported that President Bashar al-Assad bombarded the city of Homs, a center of armed opposition, again on Monday, killing 50 people. It has also been reported that 200 people were killed over the weekend. Anthony Shadid, Beirut Bureau Chief for the New York Times, has an update.