World News

DAMASCUS, Syria – New violence in a restive southern Syrian city left as many as six people dead Wednesday, an activist said, making it the deadliest single day since anti-government protests inspired by uprisings across the Arab world reached this country last week. The activist told The Associated Press that six people died in the southern city of Daraa when security forces launched an attack near the al-Omar Mosque, where anti-government demonstrators have taken shelter. He said among the dead was a paramedic. The activist spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals. Syria’s state-run TV reported that four people died when “an armed gang” attacked an ambulance in Daraa. The dead included a doctor, a paramedic, a driver and a policeman, the TV said. The conflicting information and the discrepancy in the toll of the dead could not be immediately reconciled. The latest attack is likely to raise tension in Daraa as security forces are now expected to intensify their crackdown on anti-government activists. The Syrian government has sought to contain the first serious intrusion of the Arab world’s political unrest by firing the governor of the southern province of Daraa, where security forces killed seven protesters in the main city of Daraa over the weekend. But the dismissal failed to quell popular anger and the protests reached the province’s village of Nawa, where hundreds of people marched demanding reforms on Tuesday, activist said. The TV said security forces were able “to kill and wound” some of the attackers in Wednesday’s incident and are chasing those who were able to flee. The report didn’t provide more details. A video posted on Facebook by activists showed an empty street, purported to be near al-Omari Mosque as shooting could be heard in the darkness. In the footage, a voice is heard shouting: “My brother, does anyone kill his people? You are our brothers.” The authenticity of the videos could not be independently verified. State TV denied that security forces had stormed the mosque.

The Dagger reseeded the Sweet 16 based solely on the two (or three, in VCU’s case) games each team has played so far in the NCAA tournament. Look great in your first two rounds? You’ll be high on this list. Struggle and you’re near the bottom. This isn’t an exercise designed to predict a winner or identify the best team remaining, even though Ohio State would probably top those lists as well.

1. Ohio State (d. UTSA, 76-46; d. George Mason, 98-66) — The Buckeyes went down 11-2 to George Mason before exploding on a 50-15 run to close the half. 50-15? That’s the type of score Ohio State usually sees when dominating the Ohios and Eastern Michigans of the world on the football field. (Or when playing an SEC team in the BCS national championship.)

2. Kansas (d. Boston University, 72-53; d. Illionis, 73-59) — Playing Illinois instead of UNLV was the best thing for the Jayhawks. Because of the Bill Self connection, KU’s players were forced to take the Illini seriously and couldn’t even consider coasting against an inferior opponent, thus running the risk of another Farokhmanheshing.

3. VCU (d. USC, 59-46; d. Georgetown, 74-56; d. Purdue, 94-76) — Look past the name on the jersey, the conference affiliation and the controversy about whether the school should have received an at-large bid. VCU played two of the most efficient games of the tournament in stopping Georgetown’s offense and dominating Purdue’s stout defense.

4. Connecticut (d. Bucknell, 81-52; d. Cincinnati, 69-58) — A future rule for the NCAA tournament selection committee: Don’t ever set up conference games for the round of 32 again. Connecticut-Cincinnati wouldn’t have been worthy of a slot on Big Monday let alone on the opening Saturday of the tournament.

5. BYU (d. Wofford, 74-66; d. Gonzaga, 89-67) — Keep an eye on this Jimmer Fredette kid. He flies under the radar, but I like his game.

6. Wisconsin (d. Belmont, 72-58; d. Kansas State, 70-65) — The Badgers are receiving far too much credit for beating 13th-seeded Belmont and far too little criticism for letting Jacob Pullen almost single-handedly eliminate them in the round of 32. That being said, I just filled out a Second Chance bracket and have the Badgers in the Final Four.

7. Florida (d. UCSB, 79-51; d. UCLA, 73-66) — How will the Gators fare when playing a team outside the California university system? Ken Pomeroy’s log5 ratings have Florida as a slight underdog to BYU.

8. Kentucky (d. Princeton, 59-57; d. West Virginia, 71-63) — Opening-game escapes are forgotten when they’re followed by emphatic victories.

9. North Carolina (d. Long Island, 102-87; d. Washington, 86-83) — All the controversy over whether time should have been added at the end of the Washington game detracts from the fact that the Venoy Overton heaved the ball from half court for no apparent reason. The Heels are a value buy right now: John Henson’s emergence + a favorable matchup in Marquette = another Elite Eight for Ol’ Roy.

10. Duke (d. Hampton, 87-45; d. Michigan, 73-71) — Duke reacted to Michigan’s 1-3-1 zone the same way Coach K would have if Tracy Wolfson conducted the postgame interview in Chinese.

11. Butler (d. Old Dominion, 70-68; d. Pittsburgh, 71-70) — Nasir Robinson committing a dumb foul after Shelvin Mack’s equally dumb foul would have been like if Eric Montross had called a timeout after Chris Webber in the 1993 NCAA title game.

12. Florida State (d. Texas A&M, 57-50; d. Notre Dame, 71-57) — The Seminoles advanced to their first regional semifinal since 1993 without much help from ACC Defensive Player of the Year Chris Singleton. So far in the tournament, the forward has more fouls (seven) than points (five) and rebounds (four).

13. Marquette (d. Xavier, 66-55; d. Syracuse, 66-62) — Eight years ago, Marquette and Kentucky played in a regional final in the same quadrant of the bracket. It could happen again this year if both pull Sweet 16 upsets.

14. Richmond (d. No. 5 Vanderbilt, 69-66; d. No. 13 Morehead State, 65-48) — Every time Morehead State threatened, Richmond came down the court, ran its offense and got an easy basket. If they can hang with Kansas for the first 10 minutes, the Spiders could give KU fits in the second half.

15. San Diego State (d. Northern Colorado, 68-50; d. Temple 71-64, 2OT) — The Aztecs practically begged Temple to win that game on Saturday. The Owls didn’t oblige, thanks to wild play from Juan Fernandez and a curious decision by coach Fran Dunphy not to go two-for-one in overtime.

16. Arizona (d. No. 12 Memphis, 77-75; d. No. 4 Texas, 70-69) — Arizona didn’t so much beat Memphis as it did survive them. Similarly, the story of the Texas game was mostly about internal counting mechanisms rather than anything that the Wildcats did on the court.