UPDATE: Posted 3-27-11 / 12:20 pm ET

The father of an American student who disappeared in Syria said Saturday his son "is safe and well," but remains in the hands of Syrian authorities.

Tik Root, 21, of Ripton, Vermont, disappeared March 18 in Damascus, his father, Tom, told CNN's "In the Arena" Friday night.

The young man attends Middlebury College, also in Vermont, which published a statement from Tom Root.

"We received some great news this morning from the Syrian Embassy and officials from Damascus, conveyed to me by Senator [Patrick] Leahy and others," Root wrote.

"Tik has been located, and we understand that he is safe and well. He remains in the hands of the Syrian authorities, who are currently responsible for him. We very much appreciate the efforts of Ambassador Imad Moustapha and Senator Leahy in continuing to work to bring this complex situation to a resolution. ... Please know how much we value everyone's good wishes and hopes."

Tom Root told CNN Friday that his son, who is studying this spring in an Arabic program through Damascus University, likely watched a protest, but would not have participated.

"We suspect he was picked up on the periphery," the elder Root told CNN's Eliot Spitzer.

*     *     *     *     *

Tom Root, biology professor at Middlebury College in Vermont, and his wife Andi Lloyd, also a biologist at Middlebury, are parents of 21-year-old Tik Root, a U.S. citizen and resident of Ripton, Vermont. His parents say is being held for unwarranted reasons by the Syrian Government in violation of the Geneva Protocols.

He has been missing for a week—and is in the custody of Syrian officials. He was last seen on Friday, March 18 in the afternoon near the site of one of the protests going on that day at the major mosque in the old city.

Tom Root explained to Eliot everything his family is doing to locate their son and how hard it is to get information about Tik's condition.

CLICK HERE to read our blog interview with Tik's parents.

T

UPDATE: Posted 3-27-11 / 12:20 pm ET

The father of an American student who disappeared in Syria said Saturday his son "is safe and well," but remains in the hands of Syrian authorities.

Tik Root, 21, of Ripton, Vermont, disappeared March 18 in Damascus, his father, Tom, told CNN's "In the Arena" Friday night.

The young man attends Middlebury College, also in Vermont, which published a statement from Tom Root.

"We received some great news this morning from the Syrian Embassy and officials from Damascus, conveyed to me by Senator [Patrick] Leahy and others," Root wrote.

"Tik has been located, and we understand that he is safe and well. He remains in the hands of the Syrian authorities, who are currently responsible for him. We very much appreciate the efforts of Ambassador Imad Moustapha and Senator Leahy in continuing to work to bring this complex situation to a resolution. ... Please know how much we value everyone's good wishes and hopes."

Tom Root told CNN Friday that his son, who is studying this spring in an Arabic program through Damascus University, likely watched a protest, but would not have participated.

"We suspect he was picked up on the periphery," the elder Root told CNN's Eliot Spitzer.

*     *     *     *      *

BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Answering today’s OFF-SET questions are Tom Root, biology professor at Middlebury College in Vermont, and his wife Andi Lloyd, also a biologist at Middlebury. They are parents of 21-year-old Tik Root, a U.S. citizen and resident of Ripton, Vermont. His parents say he is being held for unwarranted reasons by the Syrian government in violation of the Geneva Protocols. FULL POST

Today’s Number of the Day is zero.

That’s the amount of taxes that General Electric paid in 2010.

Zero.

According to The New York Times, G.E. reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion and $5.1 billion was derived from business in the United States. But, the newspaper reports, GE used offshore banking accounts and aggressive lobbying for tax breaks–and ended up paying nothing in taxes.  

What’s more, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.

The top corporate tax rate in the US is 35 percent. President Obama wants to overhaul the country’s corporate tax system and named Jeffrey Immelt, G.E.’s chief executive officer, as his liaison to the business community. Mr. Obama also selected Immelt as chairman of his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

Obviously, Mr. Immelt has a deep understanding of how the tax regulations work

G.E. has explained that the millions it spends on lobbying for tax breaks are necessary for it to compete internationally. At the same time, since 2002, the company has let one-fifth of its workers in the U.S. go.

In the mid-1980s, according to the Times, President Ronald Reagan closed tax system loopholes after learning that G.E.—a company he once represented as a paid spokesman—had avoided paying taxes.

At a time when cities, states, and the federal government are chopping billions from their budgets, is  G.E.’s pay-no-taxes strategy fair?

You decide. FULL POST

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering today’s five OFF-SET questions is Peter Brookes, senior fellow for national security affairs at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC.

Under President George W. Bush, Brookes served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs. In this post, he was responsible for U.S. defense policy for 38 countries and five bilateral defense alliances in Asia.  Prior to that position, Brookes was a staff member with the House International Relations Committee. He also served with the CIA and the State Department at the United Nations. In the private sector, he worked in the defense and intelligence industries. (See more bio below)

Brookes is scheduled to appear In The Arena on Friday, March 25, 2011.

NATO is preparing to assume command over the Libya mission as coalition airstrikes pounded targets for a sixth consecutive night. The United Arab Emirates announced Friday that it will send 12 aircraft in the coming days to help patrol and enforce the United Nations-mandated no-fly zone. And Turkey, once reluctant of military operations, agreed to the use of an eastern air base in Izmir. In your view, what are the military and political implications of this new deal?

The short answer is: We'll see. The military planning is expected to be done over the weekend and we'll have to wait for the details. Until then, nothing has really changed. FULL POST

LIBYAN CIVIL WAR CONTINUES – Warplanes roared through the skies over the Libyan capital early Friday, dropping bombs on the outskirts of Tripoli, where military bases are located. Anti-aircraft fire quickly punctuated the darkness, then fell silent again. The latest military action came a day after NATO members agreed to take over enforcement of the no-fly zone over Libya, but stopped short of interpreting that mandate as a license to attack government troops who may be threatening unarmed civilians.

UNREST SPREADS IN YEMEN –  Security forces in Yemen's capital Sanaa are gathering in force ahead of what anti-government protesters say will be their biggest rally yet. FULL POST

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering today’s OFF-SET questions is artist and filmmaker Ruth Sergel, founder of the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition, which is made up of over 240 partners participating in the March 25, 2011 centennial commemoration.

Sergel is an award-winning filmmaker whose works have aired on PBS and IFC and at numerous museums and film festivals. Her public art work includes "Voices of 9.11" - a people's video/oral history archive which recorded over 550 video testimonies in New York, PA and inside the Pentagon and was exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the New York Historical Society.

One hundred years ago on Friday—on March 25,1911—a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York City took the lives of 146 garment workers, many of whom were recent immigrants—mostly Jewish and Italian young women–between the ages of 16 to 23. Many of the workers jumped to their deaths from the 8^th, 9^th and 10^th floors because managers had locked the doors to stairwells and exits. Hundreds of thousands of people publicly mourned and protested following the tragedy and it led to improved factory safety rules.

Why does the fire mean so much to you personally?

I think because I am a born and bred New Yorker. I grew up with it.

Since 1994, “Chalk” has been an annual community commemoration of the infamous fire. How did you think it up?

I was thinking about it for such a long time—I had a lot of bad ideas at first.  But when the book "The Fire That Changed America" by David Von Drehle came out, he had a list of the names and ages and addresses of the victims, many of whom lived in the neighborhood that I lived in–and that’s when the idea first came to me. So I emailed about thirty friends and asked if they would pitch in on this crazy idea that I had. FULL POST