Vancouver Sun: Bashar Al-Assad, Syria's autocratic president, was forced to offer political concessions for the first time on Thursday after his security forces failed to quell popular unrest despite killing at least 37 anti-government protesters. In scenes not seen in Syria for nearly 20 years, more than 20,000 protesters marched through the city of Daraa, chanting slogans that denounced the Assad regime as "traitors".