“It’s not just that we can’t prove a sarin attack; it’s that we’re not seeing what we would expect to see from a sarin attack†– Jean Pascal Zanders, a leading expert on chemical weapons who until recently was a senior research fellow at the European Union’s Institute for Security Studies …
- Some Doubt Claim Syria Used Sarin (McClatchy / Times-Dispatch)
… and Putin challenges the alleged humanitarian motives behind Western intervention …
… while a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman in Egypt boasts that his “movement backed a declaration issued by a group of regional clerics on Thursday that called for ‘jihad with mind, money, weapons – all forms of jihad” in Syria” …
- Is Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Backing a Jihad in Syria? (Christian Science Monitor)
… yet, “[u]p to 3,000 American ‘advisers’ are now believed to be in Jordan, and the creation of a southern Syria ‘no-fly zone’ – opposed by Syrian-controlled anti-aircraft batteries – will turn a crisis into a ‘hot’ war”
… and French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas spills the beans, “I was in England two years before the violence in Syria on other business. I met with top British officials, who confessed to me, that they were preparing something in Syriaâ€:
Will the U.S. blow the opportunity afforded by the election of Iran’s reform-minded president?
- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Rival Is Iran’s New President (Christian Science Monitor)
- Iran’s New President Hails ‘Victory of Moderation’Â (Reuters)
- Iranians Vote for Change, However Gradual (Guardian)
- Rohani Urges West to Recognize Iran”s Rights  (Kuwait News Agency)
The Turkish situation continues to simmer:
- Erdogan’s Supporters Rally, Dismissing Turkish Protests as a ‘Big Game’ (Christian Science Monitor)
- Turkish Police Clear Gezi Park on Eve of Pro-Erdogan Rally (Christian Science Monitor)
- Turkey Unrest: Unions Call Strike over Crackdown (BBC)
“Besides the new Brotherhood governors, the appointment of … a member of the political arm of ex-Islamic militant group Gamaa Islamiya, drew attention…. In 1997, his group claimed responsibility for what became known as Luxor massacre, when 58 tourists and four Egyptians were killed”:
- Egypt’s President Appoints 17 New Governors, Including 8 from His Muslim Brotherhood (AP / Washington Post)
The cleric and his son “were ordered to pay a fine of 5,000 Egyptian pounds (£446). The ruling can be appealed…. It was a rare prosecution over attacks on faiths other than Islam…. According to Egyptian law, showing contempt toward Christianity, Islam and Judaism known as ‘heavenly’ religions is a crime”:
A police officer stabbed at a mosque in Birmingham believes he could have died if it was not for the “great community effort” to confront the attacker.
“The Guardian report claimed GCHQ – Britain’s electronic eavesdropping agency – spied on foreign politicians attending two G20 summit meetings four years ago”:
We don’t consider “[W]e periodically make required decisions to close accounts unrelated to the make-up of our communities, and consistent with all applicable regulatory requirements†to be an explanation:
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