title: Ryan Cayabyab

text: He received in September 2019 the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, highlighting "his compositions and performances that have defined and inspired Filipino popular music across generations...", being cited, among other achievements, "that have defined and inspired Filipino popular music across generations."


title: Far Eastern University

text: Far Eastern University (Filipino: "Pamantasan ng Malayong Silanganan"), also referred to by its acronym FEU, is a private non-sectarian liberal arts university in Manila, Philippines. Created by the merger of Far Eastern College and the Institute of Accounts, Business, and Finance, FEU became a university in 1934 under the guidance of its first president, Nicanor Reyes Sr.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The first accountancy school for Filipinos, the university, through the years, has expanded its course offerings to the arts and sciences, architecture, fine arts, education, engineering, computer studies, graduate studies, tourism and hotel management, law, nursing, and medicine. FEU has seven campuses located in Metro Manila, Cavite and Rizal. It offers programs from elementary, secondary, tertiary, to graduate school.


title: Far Eastern University

text: FEU Manila comprises several Institutes that offer specific programs. The accountancy program, along with its other undergraduate programs, have received the highest Level IV accreditation from the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA). The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has also granted it as a Center of Development in Business Administration and a Center of Excellence for Teacher Education.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Since its establishment in 1928, FEU has produced national artists, business tycoons, ambassadors, justices of the Supreme Court and other judicial bodies, technocrats in private and government sectors, finance wizards, acclaimed physicians, nurses, educators, theater and media luminaries and so many others in different fields of expertise.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The Far Eastern University was founded in November 1933 when the Far Eastern College and the Institute of Accounts, Business, and Finance (IABF) merged. Far Eastern College, founded in 1919 by Vicente K. Fabella (the first Filipino CPA), Nicanor Maronilla-Seva, Francisco Africa, Pedro Cortez, and Salvador Unson, had been a liberal arts college in Quiapo; while the IABF had been established (originally under the name Institute of Accountancy) by Francisco Dalupan Sr. and Nicanor Reyes Sr., then head of the Department of Economics at the University of the Philippines, with a number of other prominent educators in 1928. IABF had been originally predominately used by night students, and the new University, which was supported by the tuition provided by its students rather than government grants, soon demonstrated that a private university was financially sustainable in the Philippines.


title: Far Eastern University

text: In the early 1930s, FEU was housed in a converted tobacco factory (La Oriente Fabrica de Tabacos y Compania; boundary of Quiapo and Sampaloc district lots) already present on the property lot owned by Sulucan Hill subdivision. Due to the widening of the street that became Quezon Blvd., the original building designed and built by Architect Pablo Antonio Sr. (National Artist for Architecture) was demolished and had to be rebuilt on a bigger scale on what is the present campus of FEU.


title: Far Eastern University

text: In 1934, the Institute of Law was founded. Two years later, the Institute of Technology was founded, with Fransisco Santana its first dean. In April 1938, the FEU Junior College was opened in Lingayen, Pangasinan.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Nicanor Reyes Sr. was the founding president of the university, which spent its early years establishing several of its institutes, including those of Law and Technology. Reyes Sr. commissioned Architect Pablo S. Antonio Sr., his brother in law and husband of his sister Marina del Rosario Reyes-Antonio, who would later be titled as National Artist under the National Artist of the Philippines awards, to construct the main building for the school. In 1939, the Nicanor B. Reyes Sr. Hall, which would later house the main library at third level and Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance, opened. Two other buildings by Antonio, the Girls’ High School Building and Boys High School Building, followed in 1940 and 1941, by which year FEU had 10,000 registered students, with an international student population of 400. Then Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon hailed and called FEU ""the best non-sectarian institution in the country"."


title: Far Eastern University

text: In 1941, FEU also had the first ROTC quartermaster and ROTC finance units in the Philippines. During the American colonial period, The FEU ROTC was notable for having the first Coastal Artillery unit in the Philippines. During World War II, FEU cadets fought in Bataan with the Second Infantry Division. FEU constituted the majority of cadets who received armor training. These cadets were trained to operate the American M5 light tank. At the time that the FEU's coast artillery unit was formed, the Philippine Army's Coast Artillery was equipped with the Canon de 155 mm GPF. During the Philippine–American War, the Philippine coast artillery had one 150mm Ordóñez guns. It is said that of all the Philippine colleges whose students and alumni volunteered for military service at the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941, FEU men formed the greatest number.


title: Far Eastern University

text: In 1942, the Far Eastern University campus was used as a multi-functional facility by the Imperial Japanese Army Transportation Corps. It was later used as the Prisoner of War Bureau for the Japanese Army.


title: Far Eastern University

text: During World War II, the campus was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army as their base. The main building sustained bullet damage while the other three buildings (Girls High, Boys High, and the old Technology Building) were left intact. During the Battle of Manila in 1945, Nicanor B. Reyes Sr. was killed by the Japanese, and Hermengildo B. Reyes was appointed the second president of the university after the university reopened in 1945.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The university was re-opened in October 1945 despite the use of most of its facilities by the American forces until their departure in May 1946, the post-liberation years saw the renaissance of FEU with its massive expansion of facilities aimed at meeting the demands of modern and relevant education in the country and the increasing student population. FEU was once named as the “Largest University in Asia”, in the early 1950s when its enrollment passed near 50,000 students.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Thereafter, FEU continued to expand, with the opening of the Science Building and the establishment of the Institute of Medicine and the School of Nursing. In 1955, the FEU Hospital was inaugurated. Humanities were introduced in 1959, and in 1970 the Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts opened. Also in 1970, the for-profit status of the Institute of Medicine, School of Medical Technology, FEU Hospital and the Student Health Service Clinic was altered, when these were converted into the Far Eastern University – Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation, a non-stock, non-profit educational foundation.


title: Far Eastern University

text: In 1989, Nicanor Reyes Jr. introduced substantial revitalization to FEU that took place over a number of years, with renovation and modernization of facilities and grounds and upgrading of the university's educational standard. This resulted in the accreditation of the Institute of Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Education, and the Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance, and, in the mid-1990s, the deregulation of the university by the Commission on Higher Education. The auditorium was upgraded to accommodate modern stage productions and the new twice-monthly presentations by local and international artists established by the President's Committee on Culture. The university also prioritized publication, launching a number of scholarly journals, and began networking with other institutions nationally and abroad.


title: Far Eastern University

text: After careful study of the technology program, the administration in 1992 decided to phase it out in favor of a computer technology program forged with the East Asia Computer Center, Inc. which offered degrees in computer science and certificate courses.


title: Far Eastern University

text: In 2010, FEU established the Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management and the FEU Makati campus, which started its operations by June of the same year. FEU Makati offer master's degree program in Business Administration and Baccalaureate programs in Accountancy, Accounting Technology, Information Technology and Business Administration.


title: Far Eastern University

text: By school year 2023, a new institute will be established named appropriately as Institute of Health Sciences and Nursing (IHSN) and under the said institute would be health allied programs in the university. Nursing would no longer be part of Institute of Nursing and would instead be merged with Medical Technology alongside two other new programs set to be introduced by the following year.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The Far Eastern University, Incorporated () is a domestic non-sectarian educational institution founded in June 1928 and was registered and incorporated with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission on October 27, 1933. On October 27, 1983, the university extended its corporate life to another 50 years. The university became a listed corporation in the PSE on July 11, 1986.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The company operates through three segments: education, real estate and investment activities. Its geographical segments include Manila, Makati and Cavite.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The university's major subsidiaries include: Far Eastern College – Silang, Inc. (FECSI), East Asia Computer Center, Inc. (EACCI), Fern Realty Corporation (FRC), FEU Alabang, Inc. and FEU High School, Inc. Similar to the university, FECSI, EACCI, FEU Alabang, Inc. and FEU High School, Inc. were established to operate as educational institutions offering general courses of study. In April 2016, FEU entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire an initial 80% of Roosevelt College, Inc.


title: Far Eastern University

text: In 2019, FEU has entered into a joint venture with the Technological Institute of the Philippines to launch Edustria, a senior high school in Batangas.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The FEU Coat of Arms depicts a Sarimanok holding a "kalasag". Inside the "kalasag" is an 8 pointed star with a bamboo scroll under it, inscribed with the baybayin letters “KKK”. Meanwhile, the university seal has the Coat of Arms housed inside a green ellipse with gold outline, surrounded with the university's name in baybayin-inspired font and the IABF's founding year at the bottom.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Green and Gold are the university's official colors. Green is for hope, representing Rizal's "Fair hope of the Fatherland" while Gold represents the golden opportunity for the university to serve the youth and her alumni to serve the country.The university mascot


title: Far Eastern University

text: The tamaraw is the mascot of every FEU athletic team. Hence, it is the nickname of every FEU student (Tams). Known scientifically as “Bubalus mindorensis”, it is a rare animal found only in the island of Mindoro. Symbolically enough, the tamaraw is one of the most intelligent, pugnacious and aggressive of our animal species just as the university is known for its advanced, progressive policy in contemporary education.


title: Far Eastern University

text: FEU's campus is noted for a number of historical Art Deco buildings preserved from the first half of the 20th century. Among the buildings on FEU's campus complex, five by the late Ar. Pablo S. Antonio Sr., garnered recognition in 2005 from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), who bestowed the "Asia Pacific Heritage Award for Cultural Heritage" on the university for "the outstanding preservation of its Art Deco structures."The buildings include the Nicanor B. Reyes Sr. Hall, the Admissions Building, the Architecture and Fine Arts Building, the Administration Building, and the Science Building. The Cultural Center of the Philippines also recognized the historical legacy of the buildings with a marker. Other historical buildings on the campus include the 1950s FEU Chapel and the Arts Building, which represent the International Style.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The university maintains various facilities, such as an electronic library, various types of laboratories, an auditorium, audio-visual and multimedia rooms, technology-based gate security and enrollment system, and gymnasiums.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Due to FEU's mission to preserve and care for the environment, the university has a green and eco-friendly campus landscape and is famously called as the "Oasis of the University Belt".


title: Far Eastern University

text: During the 1930s, there was a heavy influence of American culture especially in the field of technology and construction that was reflected in the lives of the Filipinos. Concrete and steel were used by the Americans and was found to be the suitable materials for the tropical environment. These were materialized by Arch. Pablo S. Antonio Sr. in creating the FEU campus buildings that reflected both the university's and the country's vision and showed his personal transition from Art Deco to the International Style. The buildings were constructed between the years 1939 to 1950.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The Nicanor B. Reyes Sr. Hall, named after the founder of the FEU, is a long, low-rise U-shaped building facing Quezon Boulevard beside the Alfredo Reyes Hall. The building was constructed in 1939 by National Artist Arch. Pablo Antonio. The distinct character of the massive façade are the sets of protruded vertical volumes located on both ends of the structure.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Attention to details is another design focus of the architecture of Pablo S. Antonio Sr. The heavy influence of Art Deco in his architectural style is seen even in transitional elements like the stairs. The outdoor stairs that joins the walkway at the second floor has layers of thin concrete slabs that swirl in waves above the rigid geometry of the handrail.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The physical envelope of the building is one of the examples of classic Philippine Art Deco emphasizing the play on geometric forms.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The FEU Administration Building was also designed by Arch. Antonio Sr. a decade after the Nicanor B. Reyes Sr. Hall. It is located at the opposite end of the campus quadrangle that features a façade with geometric architectural details, horizontal windows, and a balcony that extends into a viewing deck at the second floor to observe the activities in the quadrangle. The Administration lobby has floor tiles made of Carrara Marble, the same material used by Michelangelo in his mother and child sculpture La Pieta and also used in New York's Grand Central Station.


title: Far Eastern University

text: It houses the works of many known Filipino artists, most of them in the Art Deco era. One work is a mural done by Antonio Gonzales Dumlao, which conveys the university's mission; while Italian sculptor Francesco Ricardo Monti did a bas-relief on the lobby depicting the history of the Philippines. The Art Deco-inspired FEU Auditorium can be found inside the Administration Building.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Built in 1940, the Admissions Building is the mirror image of the Architecture & Fine Arts Building. The building was initially used by the Girls' High School, and in 1983, became home to the Institute of Medicine. In 2015, the building has been renovated and changed its name from FEU-East Asia College Building to the FEU Main Building, which was formerly used by FEU-EAC students. Today, the building hosts the University Registrar services, computer labs, and education technology offices.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Formerly known as the expansion of Nursing Building in the early 1960s, the 7-storey building was formerly known as the Education Building, before the building was renamed as the Accounts, Business, and Finance Building in 2017, as the building is currently occupied by the Far Eastern University Institute of Accounts, Business, and Finance.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The building is one of the twin edifices flanking the Administration Building. It is the third building designed by Arch. Antonio Sr., still in the Art Deco Style. Constructed in 1941, it used to house the FEU Boys' High School, which was originally in the basic education program of the university. It also used to house the Law and Nursing programs before being handed to the IARFA.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The seven-storey building erected in 1950 was the last designed building by Arch. Antonio Sr. in what is considered a transition of style between Art Deco and the post World War 2 International Style. In 1990, an earthquake caused structural damages to the building making it necessary to demolish the top two floors. By the late 2013, a sixth floor was added. The building now houses the Department of Medical Technology, Psychology, Biology and Mathematics.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The seven-storey building was completed in 1955, and served as the former home of the Institute of Nursing. The building is currently occupied by FEU High School.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Named after Nicanor's son, Alfredo Reyes, the Alfredo Reyes Hall is a 6-storey building, located adjacent to the Nicanor Reyes Hall. The building houses the Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management and features a mock hotel, cooking laboratories, a basketball court with maple wood flooring, which is the first of its kind in the country, and a cafe, named Cafe Alfredo, which was established in 2014.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Designed by Felipe Mendoza, the Arts Building was erected within the 1960s and was originally an 8-storey building, before being downgraded to 6-storeys due to structural damage in the aftermath of the April 1970 Luzon earthquake. The building features a gym on the topmost floor and a University Conference Center. The building is presently undergoing renovations from March 2022, and is set to be completed within the 4th quarter of 2022 or within the first quarter of 2023.


title: Far Eastern University

text: FEU's Auditorium is designed by Pablo Antonio Sr., National Artist for Architecture, in 1949. It was regarded as the first "Cultural Center of the Philippines", and also, the very first fully air-conditioned auditorium in the country which can accommodate 1000 spectators.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The Auditorium was home to renowned orchestras. It featured dances from Manila Ballet Academy, New York City Center Ballet, and Martha Graham – an American dancer and one of the twentieth century revolutionary artists. It also became the venue of major theatrical productions like Bastien and Bastienne – created by two National Artists, Nick Joaquin (on words) and Cesar Legaspi (on scenic designs). In addition, it was in FEU where Sarah Joaquin–actress, writer, director, and former Head of the Drama Department–showcased her talents through presentation of classic and contemporary plays. To this date, the auditorium upholds this legacy by accommodating more notable performances from artists here and abroad.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Formerly known as the FEU-EAC Annex Building, the seven-storey building was completed in 2004, as part of the FEU-EAC expansion project. The building was also based on the Nicanor Reyes Hall, as the building features two pillars inspired from the former's pillars, and an arched rooftop, surrounded by green-colored glass. The building currently houses the university's Institute of Education.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The nine-storey building was formerly known as the FEU Hospital, a 5-storey hospital catering FEU's Institute of Medicine and offers medical services. The building was inaugurated on October 22, 1955 and was designed by Felipe Mendoza, before being demolished to give way for the construction of a new building, completed in 2005. The building was formerly known as the Technology Building, before being renamed as the Engineering Building in 2019.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Another masterpiece is within campus is the Student Council Association (SCA) Chapel, which was also designed by Architect Felipe Mendoza. Inaugurated on the 8th of December 1957, the SCA Chapel is where religious activities of faculty, personnel, and students are held. Its interior features a mural by Carlos “Botong” Francisco, proclaimed National Artist in 1973 and discoverer of Angono Petroglyphs (which is the oldest known work of art in the Philippines). His painting 14 Stations of the Cross encompasses 260 degrees of one's visual range. The SCA Chapel's façade is the richly colored tile mosaic of Our Lady of Fatima by Vicente Manansala, also a National Artist who developed the transparent cubism technique apparent in this piece of art.


title: Far Eastern University

text: In the middle of the campus rests this landmark and favorite backdrop for picture-taking in the campus. Erected in commemoration of the university's 40th anniversary, it consists of a 65-foot flagpole on a platform surrounded on all sides with brass sculpture, also done by Manansala, which interprets the late founder's philosophy of education. It represents the professional disciplines offered by the university.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Located on the second and third floors of the Nicanor Reyes Hall, the Library has a collection of books that falls under Circulation, Reserve, Reference, Filipiniana, and Periodical sections. These can easily be accessed using the Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) of FEU, its online database of all its print and multi-media resources. The Electronic Library is also available to provide members of the academic community highly effective learning experiences and services through the web and internet technologies as an extension of the services of the conventional library.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The Philippine Association of Academic Research Librarians, Inc. (PAARL) honored the library with the Outstanding Academic/Research Library Award during the PAARL 2012 Awards. The FEU library was recognized for its outstanding contribution to academic and research librarianship and library development along with leadership in regional library management, education and training, information and documentation services.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The FEU Institute of Technology (FEU Tech) serves as FEU's primary technology institution. Located a block away from the main university, along P. Paredes St., and adjacent of the FEU Gymnasium and the FERN Building 1, the 17-storey building hosts engineering and computer studies courses. The building, formerly known as the FEU-East Asia College Building, was proposed in 2011, while the construction of the building began in 2012. FEU has tapped RCHITECTS, Inc., as the main architectural firm, while Sy^2 + Associates, Inc. served as the structural engineer for the project. The building was completed in April 2015, and was opened in July 2015, as classes from the engineering and computer studies were move to the building. The tech building has a gross floor area of and features an eco-friendly Green Building Technology, additional classrooms and laboratories, nine study areas, a canteen, a library, a 25-meter indoor swimming pool, scenic elevators and a sky garden at the topmost floor.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The FEU Transformative University Resource Center (FEUTURE Center) is the newest building of the university. Located along 974 Lerma St, the FEUTURE Center is an 8-storey building and features additional classrooms, learning facilities and parking spaces within the complex. Construction for the building began in 2018, and was initially planned to be opened within the first quarter of 2020. However, the opening of the building was delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic, and was initially completed in January 2021, before opening its doors on April 2021.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Far Eastern University offers 24 undergraduate programs, 17 graduate degree programs, and a law school through its seven institutes, while the Institute of Technology offers 9 undergraduate programs leading to engineering and computer studies. The university offers secondary, post-secondary, and certification courses as well. Since 2020, FEU Manila holds extension programs in its Cavite campus


title: Far Eastern University

text: The university runs on a semestral academic system. An academic year starts in the second week of August and ends in May. The university is supervised by the Board of Trustees, which is made up of academic practitioners and specialists from various disciplines.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Students who wish to study in the university must pass the College Entrance Exam (FEUCAT). However, due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, since SY 2020-2021, the FEUCAT is replaced by the FEU Student Placement for Admission to College Education (SPACE), wherein academic performance in Grades 11 and 12 are the basis for admissions.


title: Far Eastern University

text: An FEU student's final grade for a course generally comes in the form of a letter, which is a summary of their performance in the formative and summative assessments. A is given a value of 4, B+ 3.5, B 3, C+ 2.5, C 2, D+ 1.5, D 1, and F 0. The passing mark for all university courses regardless of program is 50%.


title: Far Eastern University

text: FEU funds an average of over 3,500 scholars every year, providing about 11% of the total student population. Scholarships are granted to academically qualified students, financially challenged yet deserving individuals, and university representatives in different fields of service and interests.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Conferred the Autonomous University status by Commission on Higher Education (CHED), FEU Manila currently meets the highest regulatory standards set for Philippine HEIs. CHED has designated FEU's Teacher Education Program and Bachelor of Science in Business Administration as Center of Excellence and Center of Development, respectively.


title: Far Eastern University

text: FEU Manila has twenty-one accredited programs. In addition, eight of the undergraduate programs have level 4 – the highest – accreditation from the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA), while the rest are on their way to obtaining ever higher accreditation levels.


title: Far Eastern University

text: FEU Manila's international recognitions include being an associate member of the ASEAN University Network – Quality Assurance (AUN-QA), one of less than ten Philippine HEIs with the distinction; a member of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) for its BS Accountancy, BS Business Administration, and Master of Business Administration programs; and an associate member of the International Centre of Excellence in Tourism and Hospitality Management (THE-ICE) for its BS Tourism Management and BS Hotel and Restaurant Management programs. The Architecture, Accountancy, Applied Mathematics, Biology, Business Administration, Communication, Elementary Education, International Studies, Medical Technology, Nursing, Psychology, and Secondary Education programs are certified by the ASEAN University Network - Quality Assurance (AUN-QA). ITHM's BS Tourism Management program is also accredited by the Asia-Pacific Institute for Events Management (APIEM) as a Center of Excellence. FEU was the only Philippine school included in the World Universities with Real Impact (WURI) Ranking for 2020, placing 91st in the Global Top 100 Innovative Universities. It also placed 19th on Ethical Value, according to the WURI ranking system.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The university received an ISO 9000:2008 for Quality Management and became one of the pilot universities in assessment by IQUAME.


title: Far Eastern University

text: In 2012, Far Eastern University was granted Autonomous Status by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). FEU has twenty-one accredited programs by the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA) and Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU).


title: Far Eastern University

text: FEU funds research in areas such as biodiversity, urban renewal, public health, genetics, sociolinguistics, and indigenous cultures. The university, through the representation of the URC, has been an active member of the Metro Manila Health Research and Development Consortium (MMHRDC) and the University belt Consortium (U-Belt Consortium).


title: Far Eastern University

text: FEU has had long and rich history in education, culture, arts, sports and student leadership development.


title: Far Eastern University

text: FEU is a founding member of the two major collegiate athletic organizations in the Philippines, namely the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).


title: Far Eastern University

text: Among the many athletes who have attended FEU are Alberto Nogar Sr, Lydia De Vega, Elma Muros, Anthony Villanueva, and Johnny Abarrientos. FEU's teams are named after the tamaraw, a buffalo with a reputation for ferocity.


title: Far Eastern University

text: "Tatak Tamaraw" - a week long event that welcomes freshmen to the FEU community. It also orients them on policies, support services, and the vibrant campus life.


title: Far Eastern University

text: "Tam Rally" - parade and performances by FEU Athletes and Cultural Groups in preparation for the upcoming UAAP season.


title: Far Eastern University

text: "Paskong Piyu" - university-wide Christmas celebration ending with the Christmas Tree lighting. It also features performances from the various cultural groups and an inter-institute sing-and-dance competition.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Musica FEUROPA - is an annual national choral competition in partnership with the European Union (EU) organized by the FEU Chorale and the President's Committee on Culture.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Since 1990, the university has maintained the FEU Center for the Arts (formerly known as President's Committee on Culture) which programs a year-long calendar of cultural activities. The FCA also nurtures seven cultural groups namely, FEU Bamboo band, FEU Chorale, FEU Dance Company, FEU Drum and Bugle Corps, FEU Theater Guild, FEU Drummers and the FEU Guides. The FEU Guides conduct tours of FEU's UNESCO awarded campus.


title: Far Eastern University

text: FEU was the first university in the Philippines that allowed students to dress up according to their gender identity. In August 2016, the university started to relax its dress code and allowed students to dress according to one's gender. The students can enjoy all-gender restrooms, "a no-haircut policy", school attire options instead of a uniform, and a multi-faith room.


title: Far Eastern University

text: There are 60 student organizations under the supervision of the Office of Student Affairs, which serves as the arms of Student Development, Guidance & Counseling, FEU Center for the Arts, Institutes, and Departments of degree programs in providing out-of-the-classroom experiences for the students to make them holistically formed. The organizations usually conduct projects during the Activity Period.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The FEU Central Student Organization is the central student government of the university, which promotes student rights and well-being and at the same time develop programs and activities that will cater the needs of the student body inside or outside the university.


title: Far Eastern University

text: The Volunteerism Office collaborates with stakeholders and communities to deliver Corporate Social Responsibility programs in the field of teaching, culture, livelihood capacity building, environment, disaster response, and relief operations. The university participates in Hands on Manila's yearly Servathon, an event that helps marginalized sectors through volunteer service.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Among its alumni are former Supreme Court Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban, business magnates Henry Sy of SM Investments, Lucio Tan of Fortune Tobacco and Philippine Air Lines, Ambassador Alfonso Yuchengco of Yuchengco Group of Companies, CEO Benjamin Punongbayan of Punongbayan & Araullo, and Ramon Ang, President of San Miguel Corporation among others.


title: Far Eastern University

text: Among the well-known international athletes are Anthony Villanueva (boxing), Felicisimo Ampon (tennis), Lydia De Vega (track and field), Johnny Abarrientos (basketball), Rachel Daquis (volleyball), and Janelle Frayna (chess).


title: Birds of Paradise (2021 film)

text: Birds of Paradise is a 2021 American dance drama film written and directed by Sarah Adina Smith, based upon the 2019 novel "Bright Burning Stars" by A.K. Small. It stars Kristine Frøseth, Diana Silvers, Caroline Goodall, Eva Lomby, and Jacqueline Bisset. It was released on September 24, 2021, by Amazon Studios.


title: Birds of Paradise (2021 film)

text: Kate Sanders is a newly arrived student at a prestigious ballet academy in Paris. The students at the school are all competing for "the prize"; a contract with a ballet company which will be awarded to the best male and female dancers. On her first day, she makes a comment about Ollie, a renowned former student who committed suicide by jumping off a bridge. This causes Ollie's sister, Marine Durand, to attack her. The altercation leaves Marine disheveled, resulting in criticism from the academy's exacting headmistress, Madame Brunelle. That night, Kate finds that she has been assigned to live in the same room as Marine. Marine suggests that the two go to The Jungle, a botanical themed dance club where they do drugs. Marine challenges Kate to a dance contest where the first one to stop dancing will be forced to drop out. After an extended time of dancing, Kate suggests to an exhausted Marine that they both stop at the same time so that neither has to drop out. When Kate abides by her promise to stop dancing, she earns Marine's respect and friendship.


title: Birds of Paradise (2021 film)

text: Marine and Kate grow closer over the ensuing weeks. As they prepare for the dance which will determine the winner of the prize, they, along with most of the other female students, hope to be paired with Felipe, who is widely regarded as the best male dancer at the academy. Marine and Kate begin to confide more in each other. Kate reveals that she is from a working class background and is attending the academy on a scholarship. Marine, who has lived in Paris for years, is the daughter of the US Ambassador to France. Marine must attend a party at the embassy, where it is revealed that Kate's scholarship is funded by Marine's family. Her mother, seeing Kate as potential competition, threatens to revoke the scholarship, but Marine defends Kate. Marine performs an impromptu dance sequence which ends with her knocking over a tray of drinks and injuring her feet on the broken glass. She is comforted by Jamal, a drummer from the band working the party. The two of them begin a sexual relationship. Meanwhile, fellow dancer Jean Paul offers to supply Kate with drugs, an offer which she rebuffs. Kate encounters financial difficulty paying for new shoes and is helped out by fellow dancer Gigi. Becoming more stressed out by practice, she turns to Jean Paul for drugs and has sex with Felipe. Marine and Kate have dinner with Marine's mother, who verbally undermines Marine's dance skills. Kate defends her. At the academy, the two of them make a pact that they will work together to jointly win the prize. They have a threesome with Felipe. Marine breaks up with Jamal, having become emotionally involved with Kate.


title: Birds of Paradise (2021 film)

text: Marine reveals to Kate that she blames herself for Ollie's death. They two of them had been dancing passionately at their home and their mother mistakenly believed they were having sex. Afterwards, Ollie began using drugs. On the night he killed himself, Marine ignored his phone calls. Kate comforts Marine, insisting that it wasn't her fault. As the day of the prize draws nearer, Kate rises in the class rankings, while Marine often struggles. The students learn of another opportunity: dancer and choreographer Benjamin Mouton is going to offer one of them the job as understudy to his principal ballerina. Kate quickly becomes frontrunner for the position. Kate learns that her scholarship has been cancelled and that her father has to sell their house to pay for her tuition. Benjamin tells her how a donor once forced him to pick a ballerina by threatening to cut off funds. An enraged Kate accuses Marine of having her parents withdraw the scholarship. The next day, Marine learns that Kate has told the other students that Marine and Ollie were having sex. Marine is comforted by Madame Brunelle, who recounts her own difficulties as a ballerina. She leaves Marine with a motto: "Blessed is she who falls. Blessed is she who rises again." Marine, who has been paired with Felipe, offers to dance solo at the final contest and Felipe is reassigned to Kate. At the contest, Marine dances an avant garde routine of her own design, before storming out. Fellow dancer Luc, compliments her as a great choreographer and says he will be honored to dance for her one day. Kate wins the prize.


title: Birds of Paradise (2021 film)

text: Three years later, Kate is a wildly successful ballerina, headlining her own show. After a show she is approached by Marine. Marine says that she still dances, mainly at The Jungle. She thanks Kate, saying that her one time friend's actions forced her to move out of her comfort zone and that she is truly happy for the first time in her life. Kate drives away, but returns and yells at Marine that she should hate Kate for how she betrayed her. Marine responds with Madame Brunelle's motto: "Blessed is she who falls. Blessed is she who rises again." At The Jungle, Kate dances a routine choreographed by Marine and rises into the air.


title: Birds of Paradise (2021 film)

text: In February 2020, it was announced that Sarah Adina Smith would write and direct "Birds of Paradise", a drama film based upon the novel "Bright Burning Stars" by A.K. Small. Kristine Froseth, Diana Silvers, and Jacqueline Bisset would star, and Amazon Studios would distribute. Principal photography began that same month, in Budapest.


title: Birds of Paradise (2021 film)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 18 as positive and 12 as negative for a 60% rating. Among the reviews, it determined an average rating of 6.30 out of 10.


title: The Life of Riley

text: The Life of Riley is an American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, a 1950s television series, and a 1958 comic book.


title: The Life of Riley

text: The radio program initially aired on the Blue Network (later known as ABC) from January 16, 1944, to July 8, 1945, it then moved to NBC, where it was broadcast from September 8, 1945, to June 29, 1951.


title: The Life of Riley

text: Irving Brecher pitched the radio series for friend Groucho Marx under the title "The Flotsam Family", but the sponsor balked at what would have been essentially a straight head-of-household role for Marx. (Marx would get his own series "Blue Ribbon Town" instead.) Brecher then saw William Bendix as taxicab company owner Tim McGuerin in Hal Roach's "The McGuerins from Brooklyn" (1942). Radio historian Gerald Nachman quotes Brecher as stating, "He was a Brooklyn guy and there was something about him. I thought, this guy could play it. He'd made a few films, like "Lifeboat", but he was not a name. So I took "The Flotsam Family" script, revised it, made it a Brooklyn Family, took out the flippancies and made it more meat-and-potatoes, and thought of a new title, "The Life of Riley". Bendix's delivery and the spin he put on his lines made it work."


title: The Life of Riley

text: The reworked script cast Bendix as blundering Chester A. Riley, a wing riveter at the fictional Cunningham Aircraft plant in California. His frequent exclamation of indignation—"What a revoltin' development "this" is!"—became one of the most famous catchphrases of the 1940s. It was later reused by Benjamin J. Grimm of the Fantastic Four. The radio series also benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown), "the friendly undertaker." Brecher told Brown, "I want a very sepulchral voice, quavering, morbid," and he got it right away.


title: The Life of Riley

text: The supporting cast featured Paula Winslowe as Riley's wife, Peg, and as Riley's mother-in law; Brown as O'Dell and as Riley's co-worker Jim Gillis; Francis "Dink" Trout as Waldo Binney; Tommy Cook, Bobby Ellis and Scotty Beckett as Junior at various times during the show's run; Barbara Eiler as Riley's daughter, Babs; Shirley Mitchell as Honeybee Gillis; Hans Conried as Uncle Baxter; and Alan Reed as multiple characters, including Riley's boss (Mr. Stevenson) and Peg's father. Henry Morgan voiced Riley's father in one episode. Mel Blanc provided some voices as well, including that of Junior's dog Tiger as well as that of a dog catcher who claimed to have a special bond with dogs.


title: The Life of Riley

text: Gillis often gave Riley bad information that got him into trouble, whereas Digger gave him good information that "helped him out of a hole," as he might have put it. Brown's lines as the undertaker were often repetitive, including puns based on his profession; but thanks to Brown's delivery, the audience loved him. The program was broadcast live with a studio audience, most of whom were not aware Brown played both characters. As a result, when Digger delivered his first line, it was usually greeted with howls of laughter and applause from surprised audience members.


title: The Life of Riley

text: The series was co-developed by the nonperforming Marx Brother turned agent Gummo. The American Meat Institute (1944–45), Procter & Gamble (Teel dentifrice and Prell shampoo) (1945–49), and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer (1949–51) took turns as the radio program's sponsor.


title: The Life of Riley

text: An unrelated radio show with the title "Life of Riley" was a summer replacement show heard on CBS from April 12, 1941, to September 6, 1941. The CBS program starred Lionel Stander as J. Riley Farnsworth and had no real connection with the more famous series that followed a few years later.


title: The Life of Riley

text: William Bendix also starred in the 1949 film version of "The Life of Riley" directed by Irving Brecher. It earned $1.6 million in the U.S. and Canada, preventing him from starring in the TV series that began in the same year.


title: The Life of Riley

text: In 1948, NBC broadcast "two live television test programs based on the radio series." The April 13 episode starred Herb Vigran as Riley, and the April 20 episode had Buddy Gray in the title role.


title: The Life of Riley

text: series from October 4, 1949, to March 28, 1950. Originally, William Bendix was to have appeared on both radio and TV, but Bendix's RKO Radio Pictures movie contract prevented him from appearing on the TV version. Instead, Jackie Gleason starred, with Rosemary DeCamp replacing Paula Winslowe as wife Peg, Gloria Winters as daughter Barbara (Babs), Lanny Rees as son Chester Jr. (Junior), and Sid Tomack as Jim Gillis, Riley's manipulative best buddy and next-door neighbor. John Brown returned as the morbid, counseling undertaker Digby (Digger) O'Dell. In the 1955–1956 season, the Riley family moved and were given new neighbors portrayed by Florence Sundstrom and George O'Hanlon.


title: The Life of Riley

text: It was during this period that Gleason played Riley on one episode of the radio series. At the beginning of the November 11, 1949 radio episode the announcer explained that William Bendix had strained his voice while performing the role of an umpire for an upcoming movie ("Kill the Umpire") and Gleason substituted for him that one night.


title: The Life of Riley

text: "Life of Riley" won the first Emmy Award (for "Best Film Made For and Shown on Television") with Groucho Marx receiving a credit for the story. However, it came to an end after 26 episodes because Irving Brecher and sponsor Pabst Brewing Company reached an impasse on extending the series for a full 39-week season.


title: The Life of Riley

text: The second TV series ran for six seasons, from January 2, 1953, to May 23, 1958. It was produced by Tom McKnight for NBC and featured William Bendix. He was supported by Marjorie Reynolds, replacing both Paula Winslowe and Rosemary DeCamp, as wife Peg; Tom D'Andrea as schemer buddy Jim Gillis; Gloria Blondell (sister of Joan Blondell) as Gillis' wife, Honeybee, and Gregory Marshall as their son Egbert; Lugene Sanders was Babs and Wesley Morgan was Junior. The character of Digger O'Dell was not resurrected as a result of actor John Brown having been placed on the Hollywood blacklist. Sterling Holloway recurred as neighbor Waldo Binney, another radio character.


title: The Life of Riley

text: Nevertheless, this "Life of Riley" series with Bendix was a ratings hit, ranking at No. 16 in its first season, with four of its six seasons in the top 30, and ran for a total of 217 episodes. It then went into syndicated reruns. The latter portion of the fifth season, broadcast between April and June 1957, was filmed and originally broadcast in color, although only black-and-white film prints of those episodes were syndicated. For the final season, filming reverted to black-and-white. Sponsors of the TV show included Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer (1949–50), Gulf Oil (1953–58) and Lever Brothers (1957–58).


title: The Life of Riley

text: In all of the show's incarnations, the comedic plotlines centered around Riley himself, a gullible and occasionally clumsy (but big-hearted) man, and the doings and undoings of his family. Riley's penchant for turning mere trouble into near-disaster through his well-intentioned bumbling was often aided or instigated by his arch best friend/next-door neighbor, Gillis.


title: The Life of Riley

text: Bendix and Rosemary DeCamp reprised the roles in an hour-long radio adaptation of the feature film that was presented on "Lux Radio Theater" on May 8, 1950.


title: The Life of Riley

text: A comic book adaptation of the show was produced by Dell Comics in 1958 as part of their "Four Color" series of one-shots.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: Christopher Ruddy (born January 28, 1965) is an American journalist who is the CEO and majority owner of Newsmax Media.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: Ruddy grew up on Long Island in Williston Park, New York, where his father was a police officer in Nassau County. He graduated from Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York before graduating "summa cum laude" with a degree in history from St. John's University, New York in 1987. He earned a master's degree in public policy from the London School of Economics and also studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as an undergrad. He worked briefly as a bilingual high school social studies teacher in the Bronx, New York. Ruddy holds an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from St. John's University.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: Early in his career, Ruddy was editor in chief of a conservative monthly periodical known as the "New York Guardian". While with the "NY Guardian", Ruddy gained notice for debunking a story in the PBS documentary "" that an all-black army unit had liberated the Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: Ruddy called the documentary an example of "how the media can manipulate facts and narratives to create a revised history both believable and untrue similar to the events of 9/11."


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: Ruddy then moved to the "New York Post", which he joined as an investigative reporter late in the summer of 1993. After initially writing about abuse of Social Security disability benefits, he focused on the Whitewater scandal involving then-president Bill Clinton.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: In 1995 he joined the "Pittsburgh Tribune-Review" as a national correspondent covering the Clinton White House and other stories.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: Ruddy has studied as a Media Fellow with the Hoover Institution. Ruddy serves on the board of directors of the Financial Publishers Association (FIPA), an industry trade group whose goal is "to share knowledge of best business practices to help our members' publications grow and prosper, while empowering readers with unbiased, independent information".


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: He is a member of the International Council, chaired by Henry Kissinger, at the CSIS, a bipartisan Washington, D.C., think tank focused on national security and foreign affairs. Ruddy also served as a representative on the U.S. delegation headed by Senators Joseph Lieberman and Lindsey Graham to the NATO 44th Munich Security Conference.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: From 2009 to 2013, Ruddy served on the board of directors of the American Swiss Foundation, a nonprofit organization that fosters relations between the two countries. In 2015 he was elected to the board of directors of the Zweig Fund and the Zweig Total Return Funds, two New York Stock Exchange-traded closed-end funds managed by Virtus.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: In January 2010, Britain's "Daily Telegraph" ranked Ruddy as one of the "100 Most Influential Conservatives" in the U.S. The paper said: "Chris Ruddy is an increasingly powerful and influential player in the conservative media and beyond."


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: Ruddy has been both a "Patron" and a "Sustaining Donor" to the Wikimedia Foundation. He is an alumnus of the American Swiss Foundation.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: Following Ruddy's work at the "Pittsburgh Tribune-Review" in 1998, he started Newsmax with a $25,000 investment along with Richard Mellon Scaife, who owned the "Tribune-Review". As of a 2010 report quoting "Forbes", "the duo quickly raised $15 million from 200 private investors and then bought them out in 2000. Ruddy then owned a 60 percent stake with the rest owned by Scaife". Richard Scaife passed away in 2014 at the age of 82.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: "New York Post" editor Eric Breindel recommended Ruddy for a job at the "Pittsburgh Tribune-Review" owned by Richard Mellon Scaife. In November 1994, Ruddy was hired to investigate the story full-time by the "Tribune-Review". In between Ruddy's departure from the Post and joining the "Tribune-Review", he put out a report through the Western Journalism Center criticizing the Fiske investigation as inadequate. With the help of Scaife, the Center took out full-page ads in major newspapers to promote the report (Scaife gave $330,000 to the Center in 1994–95 before ending his support).


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: Ruddy's discussion of questions regarding the death of White House counsel Vince Foster drew mixed reactions.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: Ruddy claimed that Park Police had staged the scene of Foster's death as described in their reports. One of the officers named by Ruddy sued him along with the Western Journalism Center, seeking $2 million in damages for libel. The suit was dismissed because Ruddy had said nothing libelous "of and concerning the officer."


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: Ruddy later built on his work on the Foster case for his book "The Strange Death of Vincent Foster". In reviewing the book, Richard Brookhiser of the "National Review" called it "the St. Mark version of the gospel of the Foster cover-up: a plain narrative of the perceived failings of the official investigation, with minimal speculation." Shortly after the book came out, Fiske's successor as independent counsel, Kenneth Starr, released his report from the third investigation into Foster's death. Starr also concluded that Foster had committed suicide.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: Ruddy ended his investigative reporting after founding "Newsmax", but continues to write an occasional blog while he shapes overall editorial policy. He told Jeremy Peters of "The New York Times" that his outlets provide "news that Americans in the heartland would like to see."


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: Ruddy describes himself as a libertarian conservative and "Reaganite," though he is not registered as a Republican.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: Throughout his career, Ruddy has often staked out positions at variance with the Republican Party. For example, Ruddy broke with the Bush Administration on the Iraq War, and was one of the first conservatives to do so. "I came out very strongly against the war in Iraq when it wasn't in vogue, back in 2004," Ruddy told "The Palm Beach Post". "I lost some subscribers. But we are close to spending a trillion dollars on the war and there is no exit strategy," he added. "Lots of Republicans and conservatives are not that gung-ho on the war anymore and I think we broke the ice."


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: "The Palm Beach Post" interview also noted that Ruddy, disenchanted by the war and runaway federal spending under Bush, re-evaluated the Clinton years and offered a kinder view of the administration he once criticized. Compared with his reporting during Bill Clinton's presidency, Ruddy eventually took a more subdued view to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. He said she had moderated and no longer generated the same animosity among conservatives. Ruddy told "The New York Times" he and Scaife had changed their views: "Both of us have had a rethinking. Clinton wasn't such a bad president. In fact, he was a pretty good president in a lot of ways, and Dick feels that way today."


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: In the fall of 2007, Ruddy published a positive interview with former president Clinton on Newsmax.com, followed by a positive cover story in "Newsmax" magazine. "The New York Times" said with reference to the event that politics had made "strange bedfellows."


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: "Newsweek" reported Ruddy praised Clinton for his foundation's global work, and explained that the interview, as well as a private lunch he and Scaife had had with Clinton (which Ruddy says was orchestrated by Ed Koch), were due to the shared view of himself and Scaife that Clinton was doing important work representing the U.S. globally while America was the target of criticism. He also said that he and Scaife had never suggested Clinton was involved in Foster's death, nor had they spread allegations about Bill Clinton's sex scandals, although their work may have encouraged others. Ruddy and Scaife again met Clinton for lunch at his office in September 2008. "We had a great time with him," Ruddy said of the meeting. He added, "We consider Bill Clinton a friend and he considers us friends." Forbes indicated the relationship between Ruddy and Clinton has continued and described them as "lunch chums."


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: During a 2010 campaign swing through Florida, President Clinton departed from his schedule to make a visit to Newsmax's offices in West Palm Beach. After a private meeting with Ruddy, Clinton toured Newsmax's offices and met with its staff.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: A May 2009 Sunday magazine profile in "The New York Times" on the former president, "The Mellowing of William Jefferson Clinton," offered more details of the relationship between Ruddy and Clinton. The "Arkansas Times" said details about the friendship between Ruddy and Clinton in "The New York Times" profile was the "most amazing revelation" of their profile of the former president. Ruddy told the "Times" though he remained a "Reagan conservative", he had re-evaluated the Clinton presidency and suggested he had earned high marks as president for success in ending welfare, keeping government in check, and supporting free trade. Ruddy also noted that the Clinton Foundation was doing remarkable work globally.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: In July 2012, Ruddy was a member of the official delegation that accompanied President Clinton on his five-nation tour of Africa, reviewing Clinton Foundation initiatives in the area of health care, HIV/AIDS programs, education, and poverty alleviation.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: During the delegation's visit to Maputo, Mozambique, Ruddy blogged for the Clinton Foundation website, "The Clinton Foundation demonstrates that public-private partnerships and strategic engagement of private citizens, community members, and local governments can achieve great results in health care. And as I saw firsthand today in Mozambique, this work is innovative in its scope and in its purpose – which is to ensure governments can own and maintain their own health care systems without further reliance on aid. I applaud the Clinton Foundation for bringing together groups and individuals from all sides of the political spectrum to build a world that's more equal, more sustainable, and that benefits us all."


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: Ruddy is a confidant of Donald Trump. While speaking with Politico, he addressed the occurrence of significant tweets from the President on Friday nights and Saturdays. Ruddy said, "He understands the news cycle. ... It's an opportunity to get out news on a Saturday, when other news organizations aren't pushing too much new. He realizes that Saturday is a free media day for him." The story described Ruddy as a Mar-a-Lago member and longtime friend of Trump's.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: On June 12, 2017, Ruddy claimed that Trump met with Robert Mueller to offer him the job of FBI Director just days before it was announced that he would be appointed special counsel for the Russian investigation. Ruddy did not provide any proof of this. He also claimed in the same interview that Trump was considering terminating Mueller's position as special prosecutor. However, it was not clear if this was based on Trump's comments or the comments of his lawyer made during the previous week.


title: Christopher Ruddy

text: In July 2021, Ruddy published an op-ed via Newsmax that praised President Joe Biden for his efforts to prioritize the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in the United States, stating that he "inherited an effective vaccine from President Donald Trump, took it into his arms, and ran with it", and that "for the moment, we as Americans can applaud President Biden’s success with the vaccine rollout. It is saving countless lives — and that is a good thing." He also praised the Biden administration for encouraging the easing of health orders such as mask mandates. The op-ed, however, came amid criticism of the Newsmax TV channel for having aired an interview with anti-vaccination advocate Peter A. McCullough.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The Ghouta chemical attack, was a chemical attack carried out by the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in the early hours of 21 August 2013 in Ghouta, Syria during the Syrian civil war. Two opposition-controlled areas in the suburbs around Damascus were struck by rockets containing the chemical agent, sarin. Estimates of the death toll range from at least 281 people to 1,729. The attack was the deadliest use of chemical weapons since the Iran–Iraq War.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Inspectors from the United Nations Mission already in Syria to investigate an earlier alleged chemical weapons attack requested access to sites in Ghouta the day after the attack and called for a ceasefire to allow inspectors to visit the Ghouta sites. The Syrian Ba'athist government granted the UN's request on 25 August, and inspectors visited and investigated Moadamiyah in Western Ghouta the next day and Zamalka and Ein Tarma in Eastern Ghouta on 28 and 29 August.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The UN investigation team confirmed "clear and convincing evidence" of the use of sarin delivered by surface-to-surface rockets, and a 2014 report by the UN Human Rights Council found that "significant quantities of sarin were used in a well-planned indiscriminate attack targeting civilian-inhabited areas, causing mass casualties. The evidence available concerning the nature, quality and quantity of the agents used on 21 August indicated that the perpetrators likely had access to the chemical weapons stockpile of the Syrian military, as well as the expertise and equipment necessary to safely manipulate large amount of chemical agents." It also stated that the chemical agents used in the Khan al-Assal chemical attack earlier in 2013 "bore the same unique hallmarks as those used in Al-Ghouta".


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The Syrian opposition as well as many governments, the Arab League and the European Union stated the attack was carried out by forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian and Russian governments blamed the opposition for the attack, the Russian government calling the attack a false flag operation by the opposition to draw foreign powers into the civil war on the rebels' side. Åke Sellström, the leader of the UN Mission, characterized government explanations of rebel chemical weapons acquisition as unconvincing, resting in part upon "poor theories".


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Several countries including France, the United Kingdom and the United States debated whether to intervene militarily against Syrian Ba'athist government forces. On 6 September 2013, the United States Senate filed a resolution to authorize use of military force against the Syrian military in response to the Ghouta attack. On 10 September 2013, the military intervention was averted when the Syrian government accepted a US–Russian negotiated deal to turn over "every single bit" of its chemical weapons stockpiles for destruction and declared its intention to join the Chemical Weapons Convention.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: In June 2018 the OPCW noted with concern that the Syrian Arab Republic had in reality neither declared nor destroyed all of its chemical weapons and chemical weapons production facilities.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The Ghouta area is composed of densely populated suburbs to the east and south of Damascus, part of the province of Rif Dimashq. Ghouta is a primarily conservative Sunni region. Since early in the civil war, civilians in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta almost entirely sided with the opposition to Syria's government. The opposition had controlled much of Eastern Ghouta since 2012, partly cutting off Damascus from the countryside. Muadamiyat al-Sham in Western Ghouta had been under government siege since April 2013. Ghouta had been the scene of continuing clashes for more than a year before the chemical attack, with government forces launching repeated missile assaults trying to dislodge the rebels. The week of the attack, the Syrian government launched an offensive to capture opposition-held Damascus suburbs.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The attack came one year and one day after US President Barack Obama's 20 August 2012 "red line" remarks, in which he warned: "We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation." Syria was one of five non-signatories to the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention at the time.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: After the "red line" remarks, and before the chemical attack in Ghouta, chemical weapons were suspected to have been used in four attacks in the country.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The Khan al-Assal chemical attack occurred on 19 March 2013, when a government-controlled area of Khan al-Asal, a district of Aleppo in northern Syria, was struck by a rocket containing the nerve agent sarin. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights the attack resulted in at least 26 fatalities, including 16 government soldiers and 10 civilians. The Syrian government later reported to the United Nations that one soldier and 19 civilians died and that 17 soldiers and 107 civilians were injured. A medic at the local civilian hospital said he personally had witnessed Syrian army soldiers helping the wounded and dealing with fatalities at the scene.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: It was later found that the sarin used in the Khan al-Assal attack "bore the same unique hallmarks" as the sarin used in the Ghouta attack.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The United Nations Human Rights Council established the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic on 22 August 2011 to investigate human rights violations during the Syrian civil war. One of the topics the commission investigated was possible use of chemical weapons. In early June 2013, the Fifth Report of the Commission of Inquiry stated that there were reasonable grounds to believe that toxic chemicals were used in four attacks, but more evidence was needed "to determine the precise chemical agents used, their delivery systems or the perpetrator." On 22 June, the head of the Commission of Inquiry, Paulo Pinheiro, said the UN could not determine who used chemical weapons in Syria based on evidence sent by the United States, Britain and France.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel stated on 25 April that US intelligence showed the Assad government had likely used sarin on a small scale. However, the White House announced that "much more" work had to be done to verify the intelligence assessments.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: On 13 June 2013, the United States government publicly announced it had concluded that the Assad government had used limited amounts of chemical weapons on multiple occasions against rebel forces, killing 100 to 150 people. US officials stated that sarin was the agent used. Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes did not say whether this showed that Syria had crossed the "red line" established by President Obama in August 2012. Rhodes stated: "The president has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has." The French government announced that its own tests confirmed US assertions.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said "the accusations of Damascus using chemical weapons put forth by the United States are not backed by credible facts." Lavrov further stated that the Syrian government had no motive to use chemical weapons since the government already maintained a military advantage over the rebel fighters.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The attacks affected two separate opposition-controlled districts in the Damascus suburbs, located 16 kilometres apart.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The first attack took place around 2:30 a.m. on 21 August 2013 in Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held suburb to the east of Damascus. The area was on a rebel weapons supply route from Jordan and had been under siege by the Syrian military and Hezbollah for months.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: At least 8, and possibly 12, rockets struck within a 1500 by 500-meter area in the Zamalka and nearby Ein Tarma neighborhoods. The rockets were all of the same improvised type, each with an estimated capacity to carry of sarin. The rocket engine was similar in type and parameters to a 122 mm GRAD unguided surface-to-surface rocket, while the chemical warhead and the stabilization fin was of an artisan-type. One (or both) of the labs examining the environmental samples taken from Zamalka (and Ein Tarma) found at least traces of sarin in 14 of the 17 cases. One of the labs described the sarin level as a "high level concentration" in 4 of the 17 samples.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The second attack took place in the Western Ghouta area around 5:00 in the morning on 21 August. On 22 August, a witness who works for Moadamiya media center said he had counted seven rockets that fell in two areas of Moadamiya during the early morning of 21 August. He said four rockets hit next to the Rawda Mosque and another three in the area between Qahweh Street and Zeytouneh Street, which he said was approximately 500 meters to the east of the Rawda Mosque. He said all the rockets were of the same type.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: While no chemical warhead was ever found in the Western Ghouta area, one rocket engine has been identified as a 140mm M-14 unguided surface-to-surface rocket. This type of rocket can be fitted with three types of warheads: high explosive-fragmentation, white phosphorus smoke, or a chemical warhead containing of sarin. None of the 13 environmental samples taken from Western Ghouta tested positive for sarin, although three had "degradation and/or by-products."


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: At the time of the attack, Syria was not a party to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits the development, production, stockpiling, transfer and use of chemical weapons, although in 1968 it acceded to the 1925 Geneva Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases. In 2012 Syria publicly stated it possessed chemical and biological weapons and would use them if it faced a foreign attack.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: According to French intelligence, the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) is responsible for producing toxic agents for use in war. A group named "Branch 450" is allegedly responsible for filling munitions with chemicals and maintaining security of the chemical agent stockpiles. As of September 2013, French intelligence estimated the Syrian stockpile at 1,000 tonnes, including Yperite, VX and "several hundred tonnes of sarin."


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The UK's Joint Intelligence Committee publicly dismissed the possibility of rebel responsibility for the attack in Ghouta, stating that rebels are incapable of an attack of its scale. The Committee stated that "there is no credible intelligence or evidence to substantiate the claims or the possession of CW by the opposition."


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Åke Sellström, a Swedish scientist who led the UN mission to investigate the attacks, said it was difficult to see how rebels could have weaponized the toxins, but admitted that he didn't know who the perpetrator was. According to the Associated Press, "chemical and biological weapons experts have been relatively consistent in their analysis, saying only a military force with access to and knowledge of missile delivery systems and the sarin gas suspected in Ghouta could have carried out an attack capable of killing hundreds of people."


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Both the opposition and the Syrian government said a chemical attack was carried out in the suburbs around Damascus on 21 August 2013. Anti-government activists said the Syrian government was to blame for the attack, while the Syrian government said foreign fighters and their international backers were to blame.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: On the day of the attack, George Sabra, the head of the Syrian National Council, said 1,300 people had been killed as shells loaded with poisonous gas rained down on the capital's eastern suburbs of Douma, Jobar, Zamalka, Arbeen and Ein Tarma. A spokesman for the Free Syrian Army's Supreme Military Council, Qassim Saadeddine, said, "people are growing desperate as they watch another round of political statements and UN meetings without any hope of action." Ahmad Jarba, who was the president of the Syrian National Coalition at the time of the attack, called on the UN investigators to travel to "the site of the massacre" and for an urgent United Nations Security Council meeting on the subject. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack was committed by the Syrian regime and called on Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, "to apply all pressure within his powers to pressure the Syrian regime."


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The next day, a spokesman for the Syrian National Coalition, Khaled al-Saleh, said at least six doctors died after treating victims, and that they didn't yet have the number of dead first responders.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Syria's Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Qadri Jamil, said foreign fighters and their international backers were to blame for the attack. Syrian state television, SANA, said the accusations were fabricated to distract a team of UN chemical weapons experts which had arrived three days before the attacks. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the claims that his government had used chemical weapons would go against elementary logic and that "accusations of this kind are entirely political."


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: On 19 March 2013, the Syrian government reported to the UN Security Council that the rebels had fired a rocket containing chemical materials into a government controlled part of Khan al-Asal, a district of Aleppo in northern Syria, and requested a UN mission to investigate it. As a response, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon created the "United Nations Mission to Investigate Alleged Uses of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic." The Syrian government first refused to allow the UN mission to be expanded to places outside Khan al-Assal, but agreed in July 2013 to also allow investigation of the alleged attack in Sheikh Maqsood on 13 April 2013 and the alleged attack in Saraqib on 29 April 2013.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: On 23 April 2013, the "New York Times" reported that the British and French governments had sent a confidential letter to the UN Secretary-General, stating there was evidence that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons in Aleppo, Homs and perhaps Damascus. Israel also claimed that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons on 19 March near Aleppo and Damascus. On 24 April, Syria blocked UN investigators from entering Syria, while UN Under-Secretary for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said this would not prevent an inquiry from being carried out.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: On 18 August 2013, three days before the Ghouta attack, a UN mission headed by Åke Sellström arrived in Damascus with permission from the Syrian government to investigate earlier alleged chemical weapons use. On the day of the attack, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed "the need to investigate [the Ghouta incident as] soon as possible," hoping for consent from the Syrian government. The next day, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged government and opposition forces to allow an investigation and Ban requested the government provide immediate access. On 23 August, clashes between rebel and government forces continued in and around Ghouta, government shelling continued and UN inspectors were denied access for a second day. White House officials were convinced that the Syrian government was trying to hide the evidence of chemical weapons use by shelling the sites and delaying their inspection. Ban called for a ceasefire to allow the inspectors to visit the attack sites. On 25 August the government and various rebel factions agreed to a ceasefire for five hours each day from 26 to 29 August.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Early in the morning of 26 August several mortars hit central Damascus, including one that fell near the Four Seasons Hotel where the UN inspectors were staying. Later in the day the UN team came under sniper fire en route to Moadamiyah in western Ghouta (to the southwest of central Damascus), forcing them to return to their hotel and replace one of their vehicles before continuing their investigation four hours later. The attack prompted a rebuke from Ban toward the fighters. After returning to Moadamiyah the UN team visited clinics and makeshift field hospitals, collected samples and conducted interviews with witnesses, survivors and doctors. The inspectors spoke with 20 victims of the attacks and took blood and hair samples, soil samples, and samples from domestic animals. As a result of the delay caused by the sniper attack, the team's time in Moadamiyah was substantially shortened, with the scheduled expiry of the daily cease-fire leaving them around 90 minutes on the ground.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: On 28 and 29 August the UN team visited Zamalka and Ein Tarma in Eastern Ghouta, east of central Damascus, for a total time of five-and-a-half hours. On 30 August the team visited a Syrian government military hospital in Mazzeh and collected samples. The mission left Syria early on 31 August, over the objection of the Syrian government, promising to return to complete the original objective to investigate the previously alleged attack sites.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The UN report on the investigation into the Ghouta chemical attacks was published on 16 September 2013. The report stated: "the environmental, chemical and medical samples we have collected provide clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used in Ein Tarma, Moadamiyah and Zamalka in the Ghouta area of Damascus." UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the findings "beyond doubt and beyond the pale," and clear evidence of a war crime. "The results are overwhelming and indisputable," he said. Ban stated a majority of the blood samples, environmental samples and rockets or rocket fragments recovered tested positive for sarin. The report, which was "careful not to blame either side," said that during the mission's work in areas under rebel control, "individuals arrived carrying other suspected munitions indicating that such potential evidence is being moved and possibly manipulated." The UN investigators were accompanied by a rebel leader:


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The British UN Ambassador stated that the report's lead author, Åke Sellström, said the quality of the sarin used in the attack was higher than that used by Iraq in the Iran–Iraq War, implying a purity higher than the Iraqi chemical weapons program's low purity of 45–60%.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: According to Human Rights Watch, hundreds of kilograms of sarin were used in the attack, which it said suggested government responsibility, as opposition forces were not known to possess significant amounts of sarin.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The Russian government dismissed the initial UN report after it was released, calling it "one-sided" and "distorted." On 17 September, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated his government's belief that the opposition carried out the attacks as a "provocation." The United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Angela Kane said the inspection team would review Russia's objections.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: An August 2013 "Scientific American" article described difficulties that could arise when attempting to identify the manufacturer of sarin from soil or tissue samples.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The UN inspection team returned to Syria to continue investigations into other alleged chemical attacks in late September 2013.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: A final report on Ghouta and six other alleged attacks (including three alleged to have occurred after the Ghouta attack) was released in December 2013. The inspectors wrote that they "collected clear and convincing evidence that chemical weapons were used also against civilians, including children, on a relatively large scale in the Ghouta area of Damascus on 21 August 2013." The conclusion was based on:


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The 7th Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, a different group than the UN fact-finding mission, stated the sarin used in the Ghouta attack bore the "same unique hallmarks" as the sarin used in the Khan al-Assal attack. The report, dated 12 February 2014, also indicated that the perpetrators likely had access to the chemical weapons stockpile of the Syrian military. These conclusions were based on the fact-finding mission's evidence, as the Commission of Inquiry did not conduct its own investigation of either chemical attack.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The continuous fighting has severely limited the quality of medical care for injured survivors of the attack. A month after the attack, approximately 450 survivors still required medical attention for lingering symptoms such as respiratory and vision problems. By early October 2013, the 13,000 residents of Moadhamiya, one of the places targeted in the August attack, had been surrounded by pro-government forces and under siege for five months. Severe malnourishment and medical emergencies become pressing as all supply lines had stopped. Care for chronic symptoms of sarin exposure had become "just one among a sea of concerns."


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: As countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom debated their response to the attacks, they encountered significant popular and legislative resistance to military intervention. In particular, British Prime Minister David Cameron's request to the House of Commons to use military force was declined by a 285–272 margin. UK government policy subsequently focused on providing humanitarian assistance inside Syria and to refugees in neighboring countries.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Within a month of the attacks, Syria agreed to join the Chemical Weapons Convention and allow all its stockpiles to be destroyed. The destruction began under OPCW supervision on 6 October 2013. On 23 June 2014, the last shipment of Syria's declared chemical weapons was shipped out of the country for destruction. By 18 August 2014, all toxic chemicals were destroyed aboard the US naval vessel MV "Cape Ray".


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Nine months after the attack, there is evidence that mothers from the affected areas are giving birth to children with defects and as stillborn.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi was quoted by the official state news agency, Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), as saying that the government did not and would not use such weapons, if in fact they even existed. Al-Zoubi said, "everything that has been said is absurd, primitive, illogical and fabricated. What we say is what we mean: there is no use of such things (chemical weapons) at all, at least not by the Syrian army or the Syrian state, and it's easy to prove and it is not that complicated." SANA called the reports of chemical attacks as "untrue and designed to derail the ongoing UN inquiry." A Syrian military official appeared on state television denouncing the reports as "a desperate opposition attempt to make up for rebel defeats on the ground." Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad declared it a tactic by the rebels to turn around the civil war which he said "they were losing" and that, though the government had admitted to having stocks of chemical weapons, stated they would never be used "inside Syria". Democratic Union Party leader Salih Muslim said he doubted that the Syrian government carried out the chemical attack.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The National Coalition called the attack a ""coup de grace" that kills all hopes for a political solution in Syria." In a statement on Facebook, the Coventry-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an anti-government activist network, blamed the attack on the Syrian military and said of the incident that "we assure the world that silence and inaction in the face of such gross and large-scale war crimes, committed in this instance by the Syrian regime, will only embolden the criminals to continue in this path. The international community is thus complicit in these crimes because of its [polarisation], silence and inability to work on a settlement that would lead to the end of the daily bloodshed in Syria."


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The international community condemned the attacks. United States President Barack Obama said the US military should strike targets in Syria to retaliate for the government's purported use of chemical weapons, a proposal publicly supported by French President François Hollande, but condemned by Russia and Iran. The Arab League stated it would support military action against Syria in the event of UN support, though member states Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, and Tunisia opposed it.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: At the end of August, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom voted against military intervention in Syria. In early September, the United States Congress began debating a proposed authorisation to use military force, although votes on the resolution were indefinitely postponed amid opposition from many legislators and tentative agreement between Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin on an alternative proposal, under which Syria would declare and surrender its chemical weapons to be destroyed under international supervision.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: In contrast to the positions of their governments, polls in early September indicated that most people in the US, UK, Germany and France opposed military intervention in Syria.<ref name="postabcpoll9/3"></ref><ref name="frenchpoll8/31"></ref><ref name="opiniumobserver8/31"></ref> One poll indicated that 50% of Americans could support military intervention with cruise missiles only, "meant to destroy military units and infrastructure that have been used to carry out chemical attacks."<ref name="abcpoll8/30"></ref> In a survey of American military personnel, around 75% said they opposed air strikes on Syria, with 80% saying an attack would not be "in the U.S. national interest". Meanwhile, a Russian poll suggested that most Russians supported neither side in the conflict, with less than 10% saying they supported Assad.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The attacks prompted some U.S. intelligence officials to speculate they were carried out by the opposition in order to draw the West into the war, a concept dismissed by others. Other experts and officials questioned whether the government was responsible based on the timing of the attack, just after the UN Mission had arrived in Damascus, and lack of motivation, since the government was advancing in the area.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: In December 2013, Seymour Hersh wrote in the "London Review of Books" (LRB) that a former intelligence official told him that in the days before and after the attack, sensors notifying U.S. intelligence agencies of Syrian chemical weapons deployment did not activate, and that a senior intelligence consultant told him that the U.S. president's Morning Report on 20–22 August contained no information about an impending government chemical weapons attack. In the article, Hersh related that a former senior U.S. intelligence official told him that the U.S. government's published assessment of the incident included an account of the sequence the Syrian military would have followed for any chemical attack, rather than intercepts specifically relating to the Ghouta attacks.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: In April 2014 Hersh wrote an article, also published by the LRB, reporting that a former intelligence officer told him that the attacks were "covert action planned by Erdoğan’s people to push Obama over the red line", speculating about Turkish government support for Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front's attempts to access sarin. Hersh's argument received some support, but was dismissed by other commentators. The US and Turkish governments denied the accuracy of Hersh's article.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Syrian human rights lawyer Razan Zaitouneh, who was present in Eastern Ghouta, stated, "Hours [after the shelling], we started to visit the medical points in Ghouta to where injured were removed, and we couldn't believe our eyes. I haven't seen such death in my whole life. People were lying on the ground in hallways, on roadsides, in hundreds." Several medics working in Ghouta reported the administration of large quantities of atropine, a common antidote for nerve agent toxicity, to treat victims.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Doctors Without Borders said the three hospitals it supports in Eastern Ghouta reported receiving roughly 3,600 patients with "neurotoxic symptoms" over less than three hours during the early morning of 21 August. Of those, 355 died. The Local Coordination Committees of Syria claimed that of the 1,338 victims, 1,000 were in Zamalka, of which 600 bodies were transferred to medical points in other towns and 400 remained at a Zamalka medical center. Some of the fatalities were rebel fighters. The deadliness of the attack is believed to have been increased due to civilians reacting to the chemical attack as if it was typical government bombardment. For conventional artillery and rocket attacks, residents usually went to the basements of buildings, where in this case the heavier-than-air sarin sank into these below-ground, poorly ventilated areas. Some of the victims died while sleeping.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Abu Omar of the Free Syrian Army told "The Guardian" that the rockets involved in the attack were unusual because "you could hear the sound of the rocket in the air but you could not hear any sound of explosion" and no obvious damage to buildings occurred. Human Rights Watch's witnesses reported "symptoms and delivery methods consistent with the use of chemical nerve agents." Activists and local residents contacted by "The Guardian" said that "the remains of 20 rockets [thought to have been carrying neurotoxic gas] were found in the affected areas. Many [remained] mostly intact, suggesting that they did not detonate on impact and potentially dispersed gas before hitting the ground."


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Doctors Without Borders also reported seeing a "large number of victims arriving with symptoms including convulsions, excessive saliva, pinpoint pupils, blurred vision and respiratory distress." Symptoms reported by Ghouta residents and doctors to Human Rights Watch included "suffocation, muscle spasms and frothing at the mouth."


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Witness statements to "The Guardian" about symptoms included "people who were sleeping in their homes [who] died in their beds," headaches and nausea, "foam coming out of [victims'] mouths and noses," a "smell something like vinegar and rotten eggs," suffocation, "bodies [that] were turning blue," a "smell like cooking gas" and redness and itching of the eyes. Richard Spencer of "The Telegraph" summarised witness statements, stating, "The poison ... may have killed hundreds, but it has left twitching, fainting, confused but compelling survivors."


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: On 22 August, the Center for Documentation of Violations in Syria published numerous testimonies. It summarised doctors' and paramedics' descriptions of the symptoms as "vomiting, foamy salivation, severe agitation, [pinpoint] pupils, redness of the eyes, dyspnea, neurological convulsions, respiratory and heart failure, blood out of the nose and mouth and, in some cases, hallucinations and memory loss".


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Dr. Amesh Adalja, a then-senior associate for the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said the reported symptoms are a textbook case of nerve-agent poisoning.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Médecins Sans Frontières Director of Operations Bart Janssens stated that MSF "can neither scientifically confirm the cause of these symptoms nor establish who is responsible for the attack. However, the reported symptoms of the patients, in addition to the epidemiological pattern of the events – characterised by the massive influx of patients in a short period of time, the origin of the patients, and the contamination of medical and first aid workers – strongly indicate mass exposure to a neurotoxic agent."


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Gwyn Winfield, editorial director at "CBRNe World", analysed some videos from the day of the attack and wrote on the magazine's website: "It is difficult to define [an] agent by the signs and symptoms. Clearly respiratory distress, some nerve spasms and a half-hearted washdown (involving water and bare hands?!), but it could equally be a riot control agent as a [chemical warfare agent]."


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Human Rights Watch reported that two types of rockets were used: in Western Ghouta, a 140mm rocket made in the Soviet Union in 1967 and exported to Syria; and in Eastern Ghouta, a 330mm rocket of unknown origin. HRW also reported that at the time of the attack, Syrian rebels were not known to be in possession of the rockets used.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Seymour Hersh has suggested that the 330mm rockets may have been produced locally, and with a limited range. Eliot Higgins has looked at the munitions linked to the attack and analysed footage of the putative launchers inside government territory.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: According to analysis conducted in January 2014 by Theodore Postol and Richard Lloyd, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the rockets used in the attack had a range of about two kilometers, which, the authors claimed, meant that the munitions could not have been fired from the 'heart' or from the Eastern edge of the Syrian Government Controlled Area shown in the Intelligence Map published by the White House on 30 August 2013. A response from Higgins and Kaszeta included an observation that the Russian-language news site ANNA News had posted videos showing a Syrian government military operation running from June to August 2013 to clear positions between Jobar and Qaboun, a strip of land about 2 km away from 21 August impact sites.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Many of the munitions and their fragments had been moved; however, in two cases, the UN could identify the likely launch azimuths. Triangulating rocket trajectories suggests that the origin of the attack may have been within government or rebel-held territory. Consideration of missile ranges influences calculations as to whether rockets originated from the government or rebel-held regions.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Two purported intercepts of communications that appeared to implicate the Syrian government received prominent media coverage. One was a phone call allegedly between Syrian officials which Israel's Unit 8200 was said to have intercepted and passed to the US. The other was a phone call which the German Bundesnachrichtendienst said it had intercepted, between a high-ranking representative of Hezbollah and the Iranian embassy, in which the purported Hezbollah official said that poison gas had been used and that Assad's order to attack with chemical weapons had been a "big mistake".


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: On 29 August the Associated Press reported that, according to two U.S. intelligence officials and two other U.S. officials, the U.S. intercept was a conversation between "low-level" Syrian officials with no direct link to the upper echelons of the government or military.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: The "Bild am Sonntag" newspaper subsequently reported that German intelligence indicated that Assad had likely not ordered the attacks. According to "Bild", "intelligence interception specialists" relying on communications intercepted by the German vessel "Oker" said that Syrian military commanders had repeatedly been asking permission to launch chemical attacks for around four months, with permission always being denied from the presidential palace. The sources concluded that 21 August attack had probably not been approved by Bashar al-Assad.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Murad Abu Bilal, Khaled Naddaf and other Center for Documentation of Violations in Syria and Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCC) media staff went to Zamalka soon after the attacks to film and obtain other documentary evidence. Almost all the journalists died from inhalation of the neurotoxins, except Murad Abu Bilal, who was the only Zamalka LCC media member to survive. The videos were published on YouTube, attracting worldwide media attention.


title: Ghouta chemical attack

text: Experts who have analysed the first video said it shows the strongest evidence yet consistent with the use of a lethal toxic agent. Visible symptoms reportedly included rolling eyes, foaming at the mouth, and tremors. There was at least one image of a child suffering miosis, the pin-point pupil effect associated with the nerve agent Sarin, a powerful neurotoxin reportedly used before in Syria. Ralph Trapp, a former scientist at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, said the footage showed what a chemical weapons attack on a civilian area would look like, and went on to note "This is one of the first videos I've seen from Syria where the numbers start to make sense. If you have a gas attack you would expect large numbers of people, children and adults, to be affected, particularly if it's in a built-up area."