US Senate bill targets Iran Revolutionary Guard

Intent on weakening Iran economically, the Senate on Monday approved tough new penalties on the Tehran regime to thwart its nuclear ambitions.

By voice vote, the Senate backed the measure ahead of talks between (more…)

US ready to strike Iran if talks fail: Envoy

The US has plans in place to attack Iran if necessary to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, Washington’s envoy to Israel said, days ahead of a crucial round of nuclear talks with Tehran. Dan Shapiro’s message resonated Thursday far beyond the closed forum in which it was made:
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Russian PM: Action on Syria, Iran may go nuclear

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned on Thursday that military action against sovereign states could lead to a regional nuclear war, starkly voicing Moscow’s opposition to Western intervention ahead of a G8 summit at which Syria and Iran will be (more…)

Largest protest in Syria’s Aleppo since uprising started

Protesters took the streets on Friday for the biggest demonstration in Syria’s Aleppo since the start of the uprising in March 2011. (more…)

Is the Syrian regime or al-Qaeda behind the bombings ?

Suicide bombings and sophisticated attacks on key Syrian government sites have stirred fear among some Middle East analysts that Islamic extremist groups are trying to infiltrate the 14-month-old rebellion against Syrian President Bashar Assad. (more…)

Putin Holds Key to Ending Syrian Bloodshed

When NATO leaders meeting in Chicago this weekend take up the continued bloodshed in Syria, their best course of action is to have a long, hard talk with Russia about what it would take to turn the United Nation’s undermanned monitors into a robust, well equipped peace-keeping force. (more…)

US leadership needed to turn the tide against Bashar al-Assad

By Joseph I. Lieberman
More than nine months after President Obama declared that Bashar al-Assad must go, it is clear that neither diplomacy nor sanctions alone will dislodge the Syrian dictator

Energy independence is no longer a US pipe dream

Williamsport, Pennsylvania, used to be celebrated for its past — as the 1938 birthplace of Little League Baseball, which still plays its annual World Series nearby. Then natural gas was found.

Now this once-sleepy chunk of north-central Pennsylvania is a star on the map of an emerging national energy rush. (more…)

Syria’s neighbors funding, arming rebels, report

Syrian rebels battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have begun receiving significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, an effort paid for by the Gulf nations and coordinated in part by the United States, according to opposition activists and U.S. and foreign officials. (more…)

U.S. giving $40 million for Syrian refugees

A U.S. State Department official responsible for refugees says Washington has allocated $40 million to assist relief organizations aiding victims of the Syrian crisis.

Anne Richard, Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration, says the money will be funneled through international and local agencies inside Syria and in surrounding countries, (more…)