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October 27, 2012 | | BRUTALITY Most Syrians didn’t believe President Bashar al-Assad would honor a United Nations–backed four day ceasefire—and they were right. Opposition activists in Syria’s major cities reported a return of heavy government bombardment Saturday, two days after a supposed truce for the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha. A short lull in the fighting was shattered only hours after the truce took effect Friday, when a car bomb exploded in Damascus. The cities of Damascus and Aleppo brace for day two of fighting after losing 150 in the first day alone. The country remains embroiled in a seemingly interminable conflict, in which a reported 35,000 people have been killed. OCTOBER SURPRISE The prevalence of hidden donors and near-total dominance by conservatives in the shadowy outside-money arena should be chilling to anyone who believes in open democracy conducted on a level playing field, writes The Daily Beast’s John Avlon. FRANKENSTORM That was fast. Forecasters said Saturday that Sandy had regained hurricane-strength winds after having briefly downgraded it to a tropical storm. The storm, currently about 335 miles off the coast of Charleston, could deliver high winds, heavy rain, and even snow to more than eight states in the U.S. It has been responsible for the deaths of 22 people in the Carribbean, and at least four U.S. states have already declared states of emergency. IT GETS WORSE Who was running this filthy place? The FDA has found mold and bacteria in the clean room where drugs were made at the New England Compounding Pharmacy, the pharmacy linked to the meningitis outbreak. The FDA, which has remained largely quiet on the outbreak until now, delivered an eight-page report Friday on its inspection of the pharmacy, noting that Massachusetts officials also found fungal material at the center. “There was no investigation conducted by the firm when levels exceeded their action limits,” the report reads. Officials also found “greenish black foreign matter” and “white filamentous material” in the steroid linked to the national outbreak, which has killed 25 people and sickened more than 300. | | 
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