Free Republic

Syria on Tuesday said the government would take the deal proposed by Russia to turn over its chemical weapons cache to international control, the nation’s foreign minister said. “[Monday] we held a round of very fruitful negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Serge[y] Lavrov and he put forward an initiative regarding chemical weapons. Already in the evening we accepted Russia’s initiative,” said Walid Muallem, the foreign minister, in a statement reported by Russian news and picked up by USA Today

In a parliamentary system, a rejection of a war authorization pushed by a prime minister could easily turn into a vote of no confidence and the end of a government. In the American system, it might just mean the end of the President’s credibility — and a historic humiliation for the Commander in Chief. Chuck Todd tells Today that this is what is driving desperation at the White House, as Congress grows increasingly hostile to hostilities: Will the public buy the “patriotism” argument? That it’s our duty to intervene in the Syrian civil war because, er, America? Not only will...

The Egyptian army has set up barricades outside the presidential palace, after ordering protesters to leave the area. It follows violent overnight clashes between supporters and opponents of President Mohammed Morsi that left five people dead and 644 injured. Most protesters left the palace by the 15:00 (13:00 GMT) deadline, though some opposition activists remained. Meanwhile, Egypt's top Islamic body has called on the president to suspend his decree claiming sweeping powers. The Al-Azhar institution also demanded an unconditional dialogue between the president and his opponents. The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says this move by one of the most...

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Watch this......you know the moment a campaign falls into ridicule of itself and you can't take them seriously ever again. Journo's falling over laughing this morning, calling it the "jump the shark moment"

The United States will lead an international effort to release 60 million barrels of petroleum reserves to world markets, replacing some of the oil production lost due to the conflict in Libya and, the countries hope, reducing energy prices for businesses and consumers, the International Energy Agency announced in Paris on Thursday. The United States will release half of the total amount from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, with the rest of the oil to be provided by other nations among the international agency’s 28 member states. Negotiations for the coordinated response have been going on in secret for weeks, according...

In diplomacy, as in medicine, the cardinal principle in any crisis is to first do no harm. The Obama administration's approach to Libya has violated this principle in at least two respects. Having made matters worse for Libya's democratic opposition, the administration now must be willing to reverse the damage it has done. First, there's the arms embargo, imposed by the U.N. Security Council with strong U.S. support two weeks ago. Initially advertised as a measure that would weaken the Gaddafi regime by preventing it from acquiring additional weapons, the State Department this week revealed its view that the U.N....

WASHINGTON -- Hours after President Obama signed historic health care legislation, a potential problem emerged. Administration officials are now scrambling to fix a gap in highly touted benefits for children. Obama made better coverage for children a centerpiece of his health care remake, but it turns out the letter of the law provided a less-than-complete guarantee that kids with health problems would not be shut out of coverage. Under the new law, insurance companies still would be able to refuse new coverage to children because of a pre-existing medical problem, said Karen Lightfoot, spokeswoman for the House Energy and Commerce...