- The Syrian Army has been sent to the north of the country to crackdown on dissent.
- Salafists are on the rise in Egypt, as reports from the country demonstrate the comparative ease of revolution to reconciliation.
- A suicide bomber detonated himself outside a mosque, where mourners gathered to remember a slain police commander in Afghanistan. The blast killed four people.
- Tension is building in Sudan(NYT) as South Sudan prepares to secede. There are daily recriminations of violence perpetrated by the government in Khartoum.
- Libyan TV is reporting a NATO helicopter has been shot down just off the coast of Ziltan. The reports have not been confirmed.
Domestic
- Leon Panetta seems set to cruise to confirmation as the next SecDef (that happens when you head the CIA and kill the most wanted man in the world), but one revelation from his confirmation hearings was his suggestion that Iraq would formally request a continued U.S. military presence in the country.
- Robert Gates, the outgoing SecDef, feeling the freedom to speak his mind in a way a man only weeks from retirement does said in his final policy speech that the U.S. may soon decide that NATO isn't worth the aggravation. A direct quote: "The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the U.S. Congress — and in the American body politic writ large — to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense." **Editorial Note: Can I get an Amen?**
- From the Defense Department to the State Department, Secretary Clinton was dogged by rumors yesterday that she is throwing her hat in the ring to lead the World Bank, after Reuters reported comments from unnamed sources. Clinton's aides quickly refuted the rumors.
- The Washington Post considers the Senate quorum call in all its time-wasting, sleep-inducing glory.
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