One of Syria's latest flash points is Haffa, a mountaintop village overlooking the coastal western city of Latakia.

WSJ: U.S. Blasts Russia Over Syria

The statement called for the protection of civilians and demanded that U.N. observers be granted immediate access to Al-Haffa.

CNN: SHARE THIS

High-flying stocks on the Neuer Markt, Germany's version of Nasdaq, spawned two new billionaires this year--Thomas Haffa and Karl Schmidt.

FORBES: 200 Global Billionaires

By the time the monitors arrived, al Haffa lay charred and deserted.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Syrian troops have been using the Alawite villages to launch artillery attacks on Haffa, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based opposition watchdog.

WSJ: U.S. Blasts Russia Over Syria

Mr Haffa hopes the write-offs will be the last of a series of catastrophes, including mistakes in last year's second-quarter accounts and a profit warning in December that cut forecast earnings by 90%.

ECONOMIST: EM.TV��s EMP.TY coffers