A popular, British science-fiction TV show about a time-traveler would seem to have few parallels with the Syrian civil war. But one Syrian activist sees some apt comparisons.
When Syrian President Bashar Assad was re-elected for a third term in office this week — in a tightly controlled election in which official results showed 87.7 percent of voters supported him — it demonstrated Assad's confidence, even three years after much of the country rose against him.
Opposition activists say the election was a cruel farce that locks the country into a path of war; many admit they are exhausted and discouraged.
"I don't blame people for voting," says Aboud Dandachi, an activist in exile in Istanbul. "That is the fear that the regime has implanted in us for 40 years. If you step out of line there will be repercussions that you can't even imagine."
Dandachi has learned to cope with the help of a popular British TV show, Doctor Who.
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