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Israeli intelligence from a Syria unit that oversees the movement of chemical weapons in Syria was the source confirming that the weapons were moved to Damascus suburbs to prepare for an attack on a rebel held area.

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Pope Francis calls on the Catholic communities to respond to the needs of hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants making their way to Europe, saying on September 5, 2015- "Every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every sanctuary in Europe, take in one family." The Vatican will take in 2 families of refugees.

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Chivers travels with a unit of the Free Syrian Army, the Tawhid Brigade, during the battles in Aleppo against the Assad regime. The unit's soldiers come from all parts of Syrian society, an accountant, a nurse, a real estate agent, farmers, construction workers and army defectors.

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Anthony Faiola describes how Berlusconi gained political power in Italy, his television media enterprises that that upended social norms and built an audience through comedy shows and showing buxom women, the power base he built with the loyalty of housewives and pensioners and the use of special favors to the political class, the affability that helped him continue through several crises including corruption charges. Comparisons could be drawn with Rupert Murdoch of Britain, for the influence of media businessmen on politics. But there are several sharp differences. Murdoch used papers like News World that purveyed gossip and scandal to win large newspaper audiences with tawdry methods. He was influential in bringing politicians on both sides of the political spectrum- Margaret Thatcher of the Conservative party and Blair of the Labor party- to power. At the same time he was concerned about the national interest, was mindful of his responsibilities as a newspaperman, saw himself as the worthy successor to a father who started the newspaper enterprise he would run and was remembered as a distinguished journalist who exposed the problems of the British military in Gallipolli, Turkey, during the First World War. Murdoch's desire to be seen as a serious journalist as well as a businessman, led to his desire to acquire and run the Wall Street Journal. Even in his leaving Berlusconi shows a complete absence of any concerns for Italy, being more obsessed with himself. He tells the Italian newspaper La Stampa that his situation is similiar to that of Benito Mussolini when he wrote about his feeling of betrayal in a letter to a lover: "At a certain point he says: 'Don't you understand I don't count for anything anymore?' I have felt in the same situation." To the world outside Italy it is hard to comprehend that even as Murdoch was being skewered inside Britian for the News World episode and apologized and appeared shaken by the experience, Berlusconi would be treated passively by the public and Italy's political and ruling class. The editor of Italian magazine Il Foglio is quoted as saying Berlusconi was "a cultural reformer," and the leader of the opposition Democratic party, is quoted as saying that even after his resignation Berlusconi will remain in politics, behind the scenes, and "invent his successors." ...

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In response to bellicose speeches by Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference on March 6, 2012, President Obama stated at a press conference: "This is not a game..The one thing we have not done is we have not launched a war.. If some of these folks think we should launch a war, let them say so, and explain to the American people." The U.S. president, advisors and intelligence officials believe that Iran has yet to acquire a nuclear weapon, that there is time for sanctions to work and make the Iranian government give up any weapons programs it is working on. Their view as stated by the U.S. President is that this time cannot be measured in two days or two months. Recent elections in Iran show divisions in the government between the Ayatollah Khamanei and premier Ahmadinejad, with the elections favoring candidates supporting Khamanei. There is also the dynamic of changing relations in the Middle East- between Iran and other countries such as Iraq, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, India- which have strong ties to the U.S., and Iran's relations with China and other countries which have close economic ties to the U.S. In addition in a country with a demographic skewed heavily towards younger people and a third of the people under 15, the democracy protests in 2011 about a flawed election in 2009 are supported largely by university and college students. That election may actually have been stolen by Ahmadinejad from Mr. Moussavi, who in an election eve television debate accused Ahmadinejad of "adventurism, illusionism, exhibitionism, extremism, and superficiality," (Nazila Fathi, NYT 6/4/2009). These factors are likely to be behind the Obama administration's sense of a "window of opportunity," to use Mr. Obama's words. Recent polls by the University of Maryland's Prof. Telhami show only 19% of Israelis favored a military strike without U.S. backing in Feb. 2012, and Israeli public opinion experts see Obama's position as reflecting a sound judgement. Research by Citigroup shows that at a price for Brent crude of $120 with an escalation in Iran, it would take 9% of the world's GDP to support the higher energy costs, hitting Europe especially hard (Liam Denning, WSJ 1/6/2012)....

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The Economist points out (in this cover issue on India-Pakistan relations) several fundamental facts. The first is that the current state of relations betweeen India and Pakistan hurts Pakistan the most. It makes a much smaller country and smaller economy bear the burden of defense against a large neighbor- defense takes up much needed allocation of funds for infrastructure and development, education and healthcare. It also weakens democratic institutions and their development by an overdependence on the military for governance. Poor India-Pakistan relations have significant adverse effects on the U.S. In fighting the Taliban U.S. forces are fighting a force that Pakistan's military helped create and support from its early beginnings as a way to counter Indian influence. With an Indian-Pakistani peace settlement of issues in Kashmir and other outstanding issues the U.S. would be in a significantly better position to disengage from the region, especially when the entire Middle East is moving in a new direction in 2011. Consider the difficulties in establishing peace in Northern Ireland, and between Turkey and Greece, and the difficulties of establishing peace between India and Pakistan cannot be considered even more difficult. Pakistan and India muddle along- neither side is doing much to take the initiative. For the U.S. disengagement from South Asia can be best achieved by pushing for a settlement between the two countries. Pakistan and India have much to gain from a settlement. Considering the progress made in Ireland, such places as Yugoslavia, and in Turkish-Greek relations, there is a lot more that can be done and should be done to bring India and Pakistan together. In Ireland diplomatic efforts were made by U.S. envoy George Mitchell, and in Yugoslavia U.S. envoy Holbrooke made diplomatic efforts towards the Dayton accords. Greek-Turkish relations have advanced to the point where Erdogan and Papandreou, the Greek and Turkish prime ministers, discuss solutions to the Greek debt crisis. This includes options to reduce Greece's defense expenditures in the light of Turkey's new foreign policies. The lack of such efforts to break the deadlock between India and Pakistan by the U.S,. the U.K. and other countries involved in the NATO mission in Afghanistan, the emphasis on a military solution supported first by Gen. McChrystal, and then by by Gen. Petraeus, all show a lack of understanding of the real issues that need to be tackled- issues relating to a peace settlement between India and Pakistan....

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Angola's recent election gives the country a new president Joao Lourenco. Since independence Angola is governed by the MPLA led by Jose Dos Santos. Lourenco was selected by Dos Santos to help Angola navigate a difficult period when oil prices have fallen. Dos Santos remains a key figure in Angola- his daughter heads the oil company that generates 95% of Angola's export revenues, and his son heads the sovereign wealth fund. Lourenco's wife is an executive director of the World Bank, and helped negotiate a loan from the IMF for $1.4 billion in 2009. Lorenco is a low key figure who started by joining the MPLA in the struggle for independence at the age of 20, and is seen as a person Mr. Santos is appointing as he considers retirement.

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Marek Belk, head of Poland's central bank, says Poland should prepare for impact of a general slowdown in the eurozone. Poland's economy is expected to grow at 4% for 2011, but experience a slower rate of growth in 2012. Poland's public debt is at 55% of GDP compared to 120% for Italy. Belka said the mistakes in Italy show it is important to stay ahead of the markets. The action taken in Italy on November 14, 2011, if taken 2 months earlier would have prevented the jump in Italy's borrowing costs. Risks facing Poland come from the fact that a large proportion of the nation's banking assets are owned by banks of other European countries- as much as 70% of Poland's banking assets. As a result if these banks experience difficulties the local branches could become orphans. Belka would like to see private capital in Poland be used to bring a larger share of the banking sector back in Polish hands. Belgian and Portuguese banks are considering selling their banking operations to Polish banks, and PKO Bank Polski SA, PZU SA are possible buyers. Poland's central bank has kept interest rates steady at 4.5%....

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Biden has put forward a new initiative to strengthen democracy by getting increased commitments to key features for democratic processes in the world. The idea is not to limit partnerships with other countries says Anthony Blinken, Mr. Biden's main adviser and secretary of state. This means India a key partner in both democracy and the Indo-Pacific can for defending its thousands of miles of border in the high Himalayas with enroachment of China into border areas such as Tibet, maintain its good legacy relationships with Russia as happened in last weeks Modi-Putin meeting.  The idea says Blinken is- "The US does not want to limit your partnerships with other countries. We want to make your partnerships with us even stronger." This means the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, can maintain economic and development related ties with China which contribute to their economy, and build stronger relationships of culture and democratic processes with the US, India, European Union and Japan. For this reason the White House has emphasized that this is not about the US giving stamp of approval or disapproval of which country is a democracy and which is not. Too much of that happened under previous governments including Reagan, Carter, Bush, Obama.  The situation of Turkey relates to independence of judiciary and the unwillingness to take another look at problems. There is also the issue of technology is to be used so that citizens are protected from undue surveillance. Mistakes can be made but judiciary acts as an independent branch under the arrangements of checks and balances in American, British and now European frameworks of democracy built over centuries of struggle between monarchies and the people dating back to the Magna Carta in Britain. Neglect of workers and families also is an issue for democracies as for instance the effort now taking place in Germany under Scholz to "respect" workers and families. Lack of this led to the movements in US and European democracies giving room to vent that could ultimately lead to subverting democracies in the homeplace of democracies in the US or Britain. Why such a large gathering of 100 countries? Biden understands that the processes of democracy are always being improved and are a work for each new generation. For this reason there is no perfect scorecard- an ever renewing effort to make the process work in the best interests of the people of the country one generation at a time, to improve the quality of life and do this by preserving the right of peoples to choose their governments.  Why exclude China and Russia, till recently China had a consultative arrangement to run the country and Russia has elections? On this question the response of the Biden administration is that countries commit to the process and back initiatives to "counter authoritarianism. combat corruption, and promote respect for human rights."   Pakistan because it struggles with a long legacy of shortfall in the area of education after the collapse of Mughal rule that was seen under the British, and the general poverty of the Indian subcontinent that is striving to preserve the practice of elections, judiciary, and other democratic processes that were introduced in the Punjab and Sind provinces, and elsewhere since 1900. This is true for much of Africa, and also in parts of India, where aspirations of the people are for democratic process but faced with difficulties, corruption and poverty. In India the efforts of Naoroji, Gokhale, Gandhi, Nehru and Rajagopachari, Govind Pant, almost all leaders of the period since the 1850's, and able well meaning administrators since Lord Mayo in 1868 were to let democratic processes gradually find deep roots. Biden see aspirational in the face of difficulties as acceptable, even truly remarkable, with a willingness to learn from other countries to strengthen its own processes for democracy. It is no longer an Anglo-Saxon model alone as Germany and Europe are part of this process to be renewed by each generation. So are India and Japan. India after a century of elections since 1900 gradually expanding voters from one million to 5 million in the 1930's and to 900 million in 2019, with independent judiciary in a system of checks and balances as in the US.    ...

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The situation facing 1.8 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip grows increasingly desperate as the economy collapses following the war with Israel. Egypt's new government and Israel say cement was being diverted to build tunnels and have reduced flow of construction materials into Gaza. Unemployment is at 44%, 11 percentage points higher than before the war with Israel in 2014, and youth unemployment at 60%, according to the World Bank's report in May 2015. One reason given for the conflict was that an impasse had been reached and economic conditions were bad with blockade by Israel, the situation following the conflict shows increased isolation of Gaza, not less. As the World Bank report puts it the economy's survival depends on restoring contacts with neighboring countries, which becomes even more difficult following the war.

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The stories of Syrian refugees from the Ramtha Cemetery in Jordan.

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Washington Post's Kevin Sullivan and Linda Davidson on a project to follow the stories of Syrian refugees in the region around Syria.