The Arab League on Tuesday declared the Syrian regime “fully responsible” for an alleged chemical weapons attack, giving the Obama administration symbolic regional cover to proceed with a punitive offensive that could begin within days.
Two U.S. defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity so as to discuss sensitive military plans, told McClatchy that military commanders were ready to execute a sea-based strike but were awaiting orders from the White House. The officials said the attack would be carried out exclusively by the four destroyers currently based in the eastern Mediterranean and would not include airstrikes to supplement the expected missile barrage.
U.S. wins Arab League backing as plans emerge for strike against Syria
UN warns US against illegal spying on diplomats
United Nations officials on Monday reacted to the latest leaks about U.S. National Security Agency spying with a reminder to the Obama administration of its legal obligation to respect the "inviolability" of diplomatic missions on U.S. soil.
The German news magazine Der Spiegel reported over the weekend that the NSA, already under fire for reported intelligence gathering on private phone calls and emails around the world, had also infiltrated the U.N. video-conferencing network to eavesdrop on diplomatic missions in New York.
German magazine: NSA spied on United Nations
The German magazine Der Spiegel says the U.S. National Security Agency secretly monitored the U.N.'s internal video conferencing system by decrypting it last year.
The weekly said Sunday that documents it obtained from American leaker Edward Snowden show the NSA decoded the system at the U.N.'s headquarters in New York last summer.
Bullying Israeli Government Flack Sparks Diplomatic Row
On August 8, the day before the annual memorial service for victims of the bombings at Hiroshima, Seaman, then deputy director-general for information in the now-defunct Ministry of Public Diplomacy, posted a message on Facebook: “I am sick of the Japanese, ‘Human Rights’ and ‘Peace’ groups the world over holding their annual self-righteous commemorations for the Hiroshima and Nagasaki victims. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the consequence of Japanese aggression. You reap what you sow."
Seaman is the sort of individual we've all run into at some point: he's the guy who leans back with his legs spread slightly too wide apart; the type who hisses a retard joke when a colleague with a special needs child walks into the room. Jerusalem's serious, professional spokespeople detest him. They end up having to clean up his messes. Just ask Amidror, who is not even a spokesman.
Lebanon: Twin bombing kills 27 and wounds 352 in Tripoli
27 people have been killed and 352 wounded when two bombs exploded within minutes of each other outside separate mosques in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli on Friday, state news and private television networks reported.
One of the bombs exploded near the Taqwa mosque as worshippers spilled out of the religious center following Friday prayers. Minutes later a second explosion struck the Salam mosque in the Mina area near the waterfront.
Dozens die in Egyptian bloodbath on Islamists' 'Day of Rage'
Islamist protests descended into a bloodbath across Egypt on Friday, with around 50 killed in Cairo alone on a "Day of Rage" called by followers of ousted President Mohamed Mursi to denounce a crackdown by the army-backed government.
As automatic gunfire echoed across Cairo, the standoff appeared to be sliding ever faster towards armed confrontation, evoking past conflict between militant Islamists and the state in the Arab world's most populous nation.
Israel Frees 26 Palestinian Prisoners
Israel has freed a group of 26 Palestinian prisoners, whose release was agreed as part of the deal that allowed peace talks to resume. The prisoners, most of whom carried out attacks more than 20 years ago, were driven out of a jail in white minibuses with tinted windows.
About half are being taken straight to Gaza, and half to the West Bank. Palestinian and Israeli negotiators began direct talks two weeks ago for the first time in three years.
Another round of talks is due to begin in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
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