Der plötzliche Ausbruch von Diplomatie in Syrien hat eine Reihe von Falken desorientiert, und den Aussenminister John Kerry, den Möchtegern-Architekten eines Krieges, zu dem es dann nicht gekommen ist, auf der Suche nach einer Wiederholung von Amerikas militärischer Kriegslüsternheit gelassen.

A mortar shell hit the Chinese embassy in Syria‘s capital Damascus on Monday, damaging the building and wounding one person, Chinese state media reported.

The Israeli government will seriously consider joining the international treaty banning chemical weapons after Syria said it would destroy its own toxic arsenal, President Shimon Peres said on Monday.

The NY Times has an article by James Risen and Laura Poitras (what a combo reporting team there!) detailing how the NSA has basically built its own „shadow“ social network in which it tries to create a „social graph“ of pretty much everyone that everyone knows, foreign or American, and it all happens (of course) without a warrant. And, note, this is relatively new:

Mit anderen Worten: Die NSA hat illegal Politiker abgehört, die für die Aufarbeitung von Fällen von illegalem Abhören zuständig waren.

Am 18. September gab das Bundeswirtschaftsministerium bekannt, dass Deutschland bis 2006 waffentaugliche Chemikalien nach Syrien lieferte. Außenminister Guido Westerwelle fügte eiligst hinzu, dass diese Lieferungen einen Zeitraum betreffen, in der er nicht in Regierungsverantwortung war. Nun stellt sich heraus, dass Deutschland noch bis zum 1. Halbjahr 2011 chemiewaffentaugliche Stoffe nach Syrien exportierten.

A year earlier, an internal briefing paper from the N.S.A. Office of Legal Counsel showed that the agency was allowed to collect and retain raw traffic, which includes both metadata and content, about “U.S. persons” for up to five years online and for an additional 10 years offline for “historical searches.”

Auch deutsche Behörden kooperieren mit dem DHS. Die operative Zusammenarbeit mit dem BKA und Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz wird seit 2008 in einer “Security Cooperation Group” ausgestaltet (Großbritannien unterhält hierfür mit dem DHS eine “Joint Contact Group”). Das deutsche Zollkriminalamt darf seit 1973 zur “Drogen- und Terrorismusbekämpfung” mit US-Behörden Daten tauschen.

the Brotherhood faces deep skepticism over its rebranding, particularly among leftist and revolutionary activists who oppose the military‘s current domination of the political scene. Those activists recall how the Brotherhood and its Islamist allies supported military rule after Mubarak‘s 2011 fall because it served their interests, paving the way to elections they would win. The Brotherhood and other Islamists even backed deadly crackdowns on anti-military protesters at the time.

The Anti-Coup, Pro-Legitimacy National Alliance expresses deep appreciation for the steadfastness of the great Egyptian people against the coup, with Egyptian youth in the forefront, during the „Youth Are the Mainstay of the Revolution“ protest week.

The Alliance also greatly values the role of Egyptian students who foiled the putschists’ heinous plots, with the start of studies postponed in many universities and disrupted in others. Students have also brought down the decision that was close to being issued to delegate powers of arrest to university staff.

The prosecution says the former minister used sexual language with his female students in a Facebook chat during his time as instructor at the High Cinema Institute.

Kandil was handed the sentence in April, when he still headed the government, for failing to implement a court ruling to renationalize a textile company sold off by the Hosni Mubarak administration.