War

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia intends to fully support Palestine’s efforts in establishing a settlement deal with Israel.  Speaking with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbad in Moscow, Putin said that he wishes to lend his support to the Palestinians as they enter tough negotiations with the Israeli regime. “We will support your efforts aimed at making more effective steps needed in order to reach constructive dialogue,” the Russian President said on Monday.

Trevor Thrall describes the five stages of U.S. military intervention:

In a move that has undermined the ceasefire deal, Syrian rebels declared a new battle against government forces on Monday. Sign of escalating violence is also threatening to derail U.N.-led peace talks. The rebel groups, which included factions fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army and powerful Islamist Ahrar al-Sham, said in a statement they would respond “with force” against any government forces that fired on civilians.

This weekend's biggest, and most shocking story, was the report that in response to a proposed Congressional Bill that would allow a probe into the Saudi role behind the Sept 11 terrorist attack, Saudi Arabia had threatened the US with dumping its roughly $750 billion in Treasury holdings.