This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

Syrian tanks move into center of Hama

Tanks in Hama, Syria, after heavy shelling in the city (Reuters)

The Syrian regime’s massacre of the city of Hama that began on Sunday continued on Wednesday as tank and rocket fire targeted civilian neighborhoods, and prevented people from escaping. LA Times

UN Security Council condemns Syria’s regime

The continuing slaughter of unarmed Syrians by Bashar al-Assad’s regime is outraging the international community, so much so that the 15-member United Nations Security Council on Wednesday actually approved unanimously a statement which “condemns the widespread violations of human rights and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities.” Security Council rules require that such a statement be adopted unanimously for it to become official, and so there have been months of acrimonious negotiations over the wording. Thus, Lebanon reluctantly didn’t block the resolution, but as soon as it passed, Lebanon disavowed the statement. AFP

Russia particularly opposed any UN resolution that imposed sanctions on Syria. This follows an agreement between Russia and Iran that Russia would block any strong resolution condemning Iran’s ally Bashar al-Assad. In return, Iran would cooperate more closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in its nuclear program. Furthermore, Russia would work to get some of the sanctions against Iran removed. Russia’s plan has been approved by U.S. and European governments, since it’s becoming clear that nothing has the slightest effect on slowing Tehran’s nuclear momentum Debka

Famine spreads in Somalia

The east African famine has spread to three new regions, leaving the entire southern Somalia likely to be declared a famine zone witin the next six weeks. Millions of people face staravation, and food aid is prevented from reaching many people because much of southern Somalia is controlled by al-Shabab Islamist militants who last year banned food aid and forced many aid groups out of the region. Washington Post

Pakistan deploys hundreds of extra troops to tackle Karachi violence

With ethnic and political violence responsible for over 300 deaths in Karachi, Pakistan has deployed hundreds of extra troops to Karachi to tackle the violence. Most of the violence is between two groups. One group is the Mohajir, the descendants of people who came to Pakistan after the partition of India; and the other group is Pashtun immigrants from Pakistan’s tribal areas. Telegraph

Europeans are ‘astonished’ at growing euro financial crisis

Europeans had expected the bailout of Greece two weeks ago to contain Europe’s financial crisis, but now they are beginning to panic, as the crisis spreads to Spain and Italy. EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy tried to counter rising bond yields for Italy and Spain by saying, “Astonishingly, since our [bailout] summit, the cost of borrowing has increased again for a number of euro area countries. I say astonishingly, because all macro economic fundamentals point in the opposite direction.” As I’ve explained repeatedly, the “macro economic fundamentals” he talks about are based on models developed in the 1970s and 1980s, when the generations of Great Depression survivors were running things. Today, with the Great Depression survivors gone, those models are wrong. Europe and America are both headed for a major financial crisis and stock market panic. The worst is far from over. EU Observer