Peter Kenyon

When Syria's mukhabarat, the secret police, couldn't get Abu Ali to tell them the names of the leading activists in his town of Jisr al-Shughour, the 43-year-old says they blindfolded him and tied his hands and feet to an apparatus on the floor.

His interrogators told him he was about to take a trip on the "Flying Carpet."

"I felt my body coming off the ground, then they beat me with a cable on my legs and feet. I could stand it on the legs, but on the feet it was extremely painful," he says. "This was the first stage of the Flying Carpet."

Syrians fleeing government crackdowns have gathered for safety at the Turkish border. They're telling stories of how government tanks chased them from their homes.

When one man first began writing about the uprising against the regime in Syria, he was terrified. But now he and other Syrians realize there is a certain measure of virtual freedom to be had online. He uses his real name in interviews now, and believes Syrians will not go back to living in fear of the authorities.

As Syrian troops continue their crackdown against demonstrators in the north of the country, more Syrians are massing on the border with Turkey. Nearly 8,500 Syrians are already seeking refuge there, and Turkish officials are scrambling to keep the situation from getting out of hand.

Following the revolution that ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak earlier this year, the country's economy is sagging — tourism has plummeted, unemployment is soaring and poverty is spreading.

This week, a delegation of U.S. business leaders is expected to visit the Arab world's most populous state, looking to give the economy a boost.

In Cairo, it's easy to see how devastating the Arab Spring has been to economies in the Mideast and North Africa. Nowhere has the damage been greater than in Egypt.