U.S. still investigating possible chemical weapons use in Syria
Top news: The White House said Wednesday that it is still investigating allegations that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against rebel forces, an escalation that President Barack Obama has said would be a “game changer,” potentially necessitating direct U.S. intervention in the conflict. “It is precisely because this is a red line that we have to establish with airtight certainty that this happened,” an anonymous senior White House official told the New York Times. “The bar on the United States is higher than on anyone else, both because of our capabilities and because of our history in Iraq.”
On Tuesday, Israeli officials said they were “nearly 100 percent” certain forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons to kill dozens of rebels. “To the best of our professional understanding, the regime used lethal chemical weapons against gunmen in a series of incidents in recent months,” said Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, Israel’s top military intelligence analyst. The allegations come less than a week after Britain and France made similar assertions, placing additional pressure on the United States to act.
Boston bombings: It emerged on Wednesday that prior to his trip to Dagestan and Chechnya last year, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, had been entered into two different United States government watch lists.
Middle East
Clashes between Iraqi police and Sunni Islamist militants on Thursday left at least 19 people dead in the northern city of Mosul.
Fighting between Syrian rebels and government forces on Wednesday destroyed the11th-century minaret of the Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo.
Egypt’s parliament on Wednesday moved forward with a controversial law that could force many senior judges into retirement.
Asia
South Korea on Thursday summoned Japan’s ambassador in Seoul after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe defended visits to the Yasukuni war shrine by more than 160 Japanese lawmakers.
Taiwan on Wednesday reported the first case of H7N9 bird flu outside mainland China.
An industrial building collapsed in Bangladesh on Wednesday, killing 125 people and injuring as many as 1,000.
Americas
Venezuela’s parliament on Wednesday launched a probe into opposition leader Henrique Capriles’ alleged role post-election violence.
Teachers protesting sweeping education reforms on Wednesday attacked the local headquarters of the PRI and PAN parties in Mexico’s Guerrero state.
The U.N. appointed Brazilian Gen. Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz to lead the peacekeeping force in Democratic Republic of Congo.
Europe
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Wednesday asked Enrico Letta, deputy leader of the center-left Democratic Party, to form a coalition government.
Switzerland announced Wednesday that it will reintroduce quotas for European Union workers.
Spain’s unemployment rate reached a record high of 27.2 percent in the first quarter of 2013.
Africa
Sudan began African Union-led peace talks with the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North on Wednesday in Addis Ababa.
Cashew nut farmers rioted in southern Tanzania after co-operative societies offered lower-than-expected prices for their crop.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Wednesday urged Angola’s government to reduce the “huge disparities that have developed between the richest and the poorest.”
