Syria: the calm before the storm

A boy plays with a ball in an alley of the old city of Damascus, Syria (Getty Images)

Calls for protests in Syria are spreading on social media websites, following popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Organisers say protests will be staged in front of the parliament in the capital, Damascus, on Friday and Saturday, and at Syrian embassies across the world. Several pages have been set up on Facebook, with the most popular one, named "The Syrian Revolution", "liked" by about 13,000 people by Thursday. Read more