The Economist.

Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist.

I'm your host, Rosie Bloor. Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the event shaping your world.

Think of a protest march and I bet you envision crowds of angry youths, carrying placards,

chanting their demands for change.

Well, you'd be right about the shouts and billboards, but in Britain, increasingly, it's

not the young who demonstrate,

it's pensioners. And you might remember him as General Zod in Superman, Bernadette in

Priscilla Queen of the Desert, or maybe the Supreme Chancellor Finnis Philorum in Star Wars,

many characters, and he was brilliant in them all.

Our obitories editor celebrates the life of Terence Stamp.

But first...

In July, repeated armed clashes in the southern Syrian city of Suwaita killed hundreds of people.

Government-backed Sunni militias went on the rampage in a province where the majority of the population are droos.

Local men responded by massing in the streets, chanting, arms in tone.

And that violence wasn't an isolated case.

In March in coastal areas, members of the Alawite minority were targeted by unidentified Sunni militias.

More than 1,400 people were massacred. In the early months after the fall of former dictator Bashar al-Assad, Syria was euphoric. Back then, a poll commissioned by the economist found the country's new president Ahmed al-Shara had an 81% approval rating. That moment has now passed.

Less than nine months in,

Al-Shera's regime is coming under increasing scrutiny.

There have been several instances of sectarian violence,

which have really shaken the country,

...