Top stories from DAWNS Digest
Report: Obama Preparing to Arm Syrian Rebels
Secretary of State Kerry is heading to Moscow this week to try and sell the case. This is significant news. President Obama is preparing to send lethal weaponry to the Syrian opposition and has taken steps to assert more aggressive US leadership among allies and partners seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, according to senior administration officials. The officials emphasized that political negotiation remains the preferred option. To that end, the administration has launched a new effort to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin that the probable use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government — and the more direct outside intervention that could provoke — should lead him to reconsider his support of Assad. (WaPo http://wapo.st/15Y0sDO)
UK to End Bilateral Development Assistance to South Africa
First, it was India. Now, it’s the country that puts the ‘S’ in BRICS. “British International Development Secretary Justine Greening said Tuesday that the U.K. is ending direct aid to South Africa, worth about $29 million per year. Greening said she had consulted with South African officials ahead of the decision and that they had agreed that ‘South Africa is now in a position to fund its own development.’ However, in Pretoria, South Africa’s capital, officials said they were taken by surprise. (Voice of America http://bit.ly/15Y2JyO)