Syria Crisis Digest: May 26 - June 1

Each week, HuffPost World will provide the top stories out of Syria and a recap of events in the country's year-long uprising, as President Bashar Assad’s regime continues its bloody crackdown.

May 26 - June 1 In Review

• Over 100 people, including more than 40 children and over 30 women, were massacred in Houla, a group of poor villages in Syria. Most reportedly were shot at close range.
• Governments around the world expelled Syrian diplomats and ambassadors in response to the massacre.
• Days later, government forces shelled the site of the massacre.
• 13 bodies were discovered bound and shot. Activists claimed the victims were army defectors.
• A 28-year-old graduate student of Syracuse University was killed in Homs. Bassel Al Shahade was a Fullbright Scholar and filmmaker.
• Gunmen killed 11 Syrian state workers in the second execution-style shooting in a week
• Russia reportedly shipped heavy arms to Syria, although Putin denied it.

Explainers

• The Council on Foreign Relations: 'Syria's Crisis and the Global Response'
• Foreign Policy: 'What the Hell Should We Do About Syria?'

Media Not To Miss

Channel 4 News -- 'Answers in Houla are hard to come by'

Channel 4's Alex Thomson reports from Houla, where he spoke to victims of the massacre.

It is almost as if the events of the massacre are too off the scale to deal with, as well they might be. What can you say when you sit in a room full of people from this town and look at video depicting a large room filled with 18 bodies of toddlers and small children. They are not covered – they are there, eyes wide open, frozen in the terrified stare of death.

Associated Press -- Child Witness Plays Dead To Survive Massacre

Read the full story here.

AP Photos Show Grisly Aftermath Of Houla Massacre