Israeli soldiers returned fire into Syria on Tuesday in response to shots that reportedly damaged a military vehicle in the third cross-border shooting this week in the Israeli occupied Golan Heights. There were no injuries reported. An Israeli spokesperson said, the shots "most likely were stray bullets, we don't know if it was intentional." However, soon after, the Syrian military released a statement saying, "Our armed forces have destroyed an Israeli vehicle with everything that it had in it. The vehicle had crossed the cease-fire line." This was the first time the Syrian regime admitted to firing at Israeli forces in the Golan since the beginning of the Syrian conflict. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reasserted his concerns about Israeli security as the conflict in Syria flares, stressing the potential of Israeli airstrikes to prevent Hezbollah or other militant groups from getting advanced weapons. Israeli has allegedly carried out three airstrikes in Syrian territory this year in order to stop weapons transfers to Hezbollah. Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary William Hague insinuated he will veto the renewal of the European Union arms embargo on Syria if member states prevent moves to allow weapons transfers to opposition fighters. There is disagreement within Britain over arms transfers, but lapse of the embargo would allow for possible weapons deliveries in the future. According to The Guardian, the decision in April by the EU to lift its oil sanctions on Syria has led to increased internal clashes between opposition groups and has strengthened jihadist groups. As infighting has risen over oil, water, and agricultural land, pressure on the Syrian government has eased. The Islamist opposition faction al-Nusra Front has reportedly taken control of most of the oil wells in Deir al-Zour province and has struck deals with regime forces to guarantee the transfer of crude to the Mediterranean coast.

Headlines

• Bombings continued in Iraq on Tuesday, killing 13 people a day after a series of car bombings left more than 70 people dead.
• An unemployed former Israeli border policeman killed four people and himself in a Beer Sheva bank on Monday reportedly after being refused overdraft funds and cash from the ATM.
• Three people have been killed including an army soldier in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli in clashes between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
• Palestinians are holding off on applying to join U.N. agencies, which would be opposed by the United States and Israel, in order to give the recent U.S. peace efforts a chance to succeed.
• The U.S. State Department's annual International Religious Freedom Report shows a rise in 2012 in discrimination against Jews and Muslims around the world. 
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Russia has sent advanced antiship cruise missiles to Syria, according to anonymous U.S. officials. The Yakhonts, which have an advanced radar, underscore the continued support of Russia for the Syrian regime, giving the government the capacity to stave off international efforts to reinforce the Syrian opposition by sea. The shipment comes as the United States and Russia are planning an international conference aimed at bringing together the Syrian government and opposition. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he had brought up U.S. concerns over Russian arms supplies to Syria during his recent visit. He said, "I think we've made it crystal clear we would prefer that Russia was not supplying assistance." On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, "We have not hidden that we supply weapons to Syria under signed contracts, without violating any international agreements, or our own legislation." Russia has increased its presence in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, sending about a dozen warships near its naval base in Syria's port city of Tartus. According to a senior U.S. defense official, "It is a show of force." U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with Russian leaders on Friday to discuss the crisis in Syria. Ban, alongside Lavrov, said that a peace conference "should be held as soon as possible." Lavrov said that Syrian delegations have not yet been decided so an official date for the conference has not been set; however the meeting is expected to take place in Geneva during the first half of June. Syrian's main opposition group is expected to decide next week on whether it will participate in the conference, and Russia's push for Iran to be included in the meeting could add further complications. Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Washington with U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday. The two leaders differed on many points on how to deal with the Syrian crisis, but agreed that President Bashar al-Assad must leave power. Erdogan is looking for international action on Syria, at least with the implementation of a no-fly zone, while Obama, reluctant to involve the United States in another war, ruled out unilateral U.S. military action.

Headlines

• Egyptian police have closed the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula, protesting the kidnapping of seven Egyptian security officers.
• Turkish police have arrested a prime suspect associated with the twin bombings last Saturday in Reyhanli near the Syrian border that killed 51 people.
• Iran's Guardian Council has barred women from running in presidential elections scheduled for June 14, for which 30 women have registered as candidates.
• A wave of car bombings in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Kirkuk killed at least 26 people on Thursday.
• Over 20,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews assembled outside the Israel Defense Forces recruiting office Thursday protesting a conscription proposal. 
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A series of bombings across Iraq Wednesday evening killed at least 34 people. Within an hour in the capital Baghdad, 11 explosions, mostly car bombings, killed 23 people and wounded over 100 others, mostly in Shiite districts. Sadr City was hit the worst with three bombs, two of which exploded in busy markets, but attacks were also reported in Kadhimiya, Husseiniya, Mashtal, Baghdad al-Jadida, Saidiya, and Zafaraniya. Additionally, bombings in the northern ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk killed an estimated 10 people. A car bomb exploded near a government building, followed by another car bomb an hour later in the same area. On Thursday, four additional bombs killed at least 12 people in Shiite districts of Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul. No group has taken responsibility for the attacks. There has been a surge in sectarian violence in Iraq since the army raided a Sunni anti-government protest camp near the northern town of Hawija last month, killing an estimated 50 people.

Syria

The United Nations General Assembly passed a nonbinding resolution on Wednesday condemning Syrian government forces, praising the opposition, and calling for a political solution to end the war in Syria. The vote, however, showed a decline in support for the opposition since a resolution passed in August 2012 -- with 107 votes in favor compared to 133 in the previous vote and a drastic increase in abstentions. Many diplomats expressed increasing concerns over the rise in the presence of Islamist extremists in the conflict. There was also a sentiment that the resolution would not help to convince the Syrian government and opposition to participate in peace talks recently proposed by the United States and Russia. At the beginning of the session, President of the U.N. General Assembly Vuk Jeremic stated, "At least 80,000 have perished since the start of the hostilities, with most of the casualties believed to be civilians." Meanwhile, a BBC correspondent has reported evidence of a chemical attack last month in the northern town of Saraqeb. Eyewitnesses claimed that government helicopters dropped at least two devices containing poisonous gas on April 29. Additionally, doctors at the local hospital said they admitted eight people suffering from breathing problems. The BBC reported it has received videos that seem to support these claims, but is not able to independently verify them. In other news, a video posted on Thursday showed opposition al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front fighters executing 11 Syrian soldiers they accused of committing "massacres."

Headlines  

• The White House has released over 100 pages of emails on the debate on "talking points" of the administration's first public account of the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya in September 2012.
• Islamist gunmen have abducted seven Egyptian security officers in the Sinai Peninsula Thursday reportedly seeking the release of jailed militants.
• Yemeni kidnappers have released three foreign Red Cross workers and their Yemeni interpreter who were seized Monday in the southern province of Abyan.  
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The United Nations General Assembly is expected to approve an Arab-backed draft resolution on Syria in a vote on Wednesday. The draft resolution condemns the Syrian government and accepts the Syrian National Coalition as a party to a potential political transition. The draft resolution is opposed by Russia, a strong ally of the Syrian regime, and is not expected to win as many votes as an August 2012 resolution, which passed with 133 countries in favor. A senior western diplomat said that the Islamist factor has added complications and it is not as clear to countries now that the opposition is the winning side. According to another senior diplomat, this draft resolution is stronger than the earlier one, and Russia has complained that it is unbalanced. The draft resolution condemns violence from all sides, and demands that the Syrian government allow for a U.N. inquiry into chemical weapons allegations. Unlike U.N. Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding and cannot be enforced. However, the three Western-backed Security Council resolutions aimed at pressuring the Assad regime have been vetoed by Russia and China. The United States and Russia have been planning for an international conference on Syria they hope to hold in June. Speaking from Sweden on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said "progress is being made" on bringing together representatives from the Syrian government and opposition. According to Kerry, Assad's regime has given Russia a list of officials that would attend the potential talks. Meanwhile, Syria's Internet is reportedly down for the second time in two weeks. According to Syrian residents and the U.S.-based Internet monitoring company Renesys Corp., Syria went offline at 10:00 a.m. local time Wednesday. Syria's state news agency, SANA, said there were technical problems and maintenance teams were working on the issue.

Headlines

• Iraqi gunmen killed 12 people in an attack on at least nine liquor stores in the Zayona district of eastern Baghdad on Tuesday.
• Rival Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, have agreed to form a national unity government and hold legislative and presidential elections within three months.
• The International Criminal Court is opening a preliminary examination into Israel's raid in 2010 of a humanitarian aid flotilla bound for the Gaza strip, in which nine Turks were killed.
• Libyan officials have said that an explosion near a hospital on Monday may have been "an accidental" blast of a car carrying explosives.
• Turkey's ruling Islamist party has proposed a parliamentary bill curbing the consumption and advertisement of alcohol. 
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U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron met in Washington on Monday, reaffirming their commitment to the Syrian opposition. Cameron said his government has not yet made a decision to arm opposition fighters, but committed to double its non-lethal aid over the coming year as well as continue providing humanitarian relief for refugees. Obama spoke about U.S. and Russian efforts to bring together the Syrian government and opposition for negotiations, but injected a word of caution saying, "There are going to be enormous challenges." The Syrian regime and opposition have requested more details about the proposed conference before committing to attend. Obama also noted that he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin several times and stated that Russia has an interest in encouraging a stable and democratic Syria after Assad leaves power. Putin is hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks on the Syrian conflict on Tuesday. Israel expressed concerns last week about Russia's arms deliveries of advanced S-300 missile batteries to the Syrian government. Meanwhile, an unauthenticated video has been released that appears to show a Syrian rebel eating the heart of a dead government soldier, drawing widespread condemnation. Human Rights Watch identified the man as Abu Sakkar, leader of the Independent Omar al-Farouq Brigade. The U.S. based human rights group said all people responsible for war crimes in the Syrian conflict will be held accountable. A spokeswoman for the opposition Syrian National Coalition said, "we completely condemn this act, which is an affront to human values, Islamic ethics and the ideals of the coalition and the Free Syrian Army."

Headlines

• On Monday, a car bombing close to a hospital in the Libyan city of Benghazi killed several civilians after four police stations were bombed last week which caused damage but no casualties.
• Saudi Arabia's health ministry has confirmed four new cases of the SARS-like coronavirus, with a total of 24 cases since the disease was identified in 2012.
• Israel approved a two-year austerity budget Monday despite large protests; meanwhile Prime Minster Netanyahu has come under scrutiny for his household spending.
• A Turkish fighter jet crashed Monday killing the pilot in the southern Osmaniye province near the border with Syria, but the cause of the crash is unclear.
• President Obama said the U.S. administration called the attack on Benghazi an act of terrorism from the beginning and called the dispute a Republican "sideshow." 
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Syria has denied responsibility for two car bombings on Saturday in the Turkish border town of Reyhanli that killed an estimated 46 people and injured 100 others. Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said his country "did not commit and would never commit such an act because our values would not allow that." Turkish police have arrested nine Turkish citizens suspected of having a connection with the attacks. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the people responsible for the bombings were from an "old Marxist terrorist organization" with ties to the Syrian regime. He said the attacks were a breach of Turkey's "red line" and called on the "international community to display a common stance against the regime, immediately and without delay." Concerns over the spread of the Syrian conflict continue to increase, and anger has heightened in the predominantly Sunni town that is housing tens of thousands of Syrian refugees. Meanwhile, the rebel Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade reportedly released four Filipino U.N. peacekeepers who had been posted in the Golan Heights and were abducted last Tuesday. The brigade said the soldiers were held "for their own safety." The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has released a new estimate for the death toll in the Syrian conflict, saying that 82,257 have been killed since fighting began in March 2011. In February, U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay said the death toll was approaching 70,000.

Headlines  

• A Russian-made Yemeni fighter jet crashed into a residential district of the capital, Sanaa, on Monday, killing the pilot and injuring at least 18 people in the third such incident in the past year.
• Iran's Guardian Council has accused Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of violating the election law by accompanying Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie as he registered for the upcoming presidential election.
• Egyptian security forces arrested three suspected al Qaeda linked militants for planning an attack on a Western embassy in Cairo, likely the U.S. embassy.
• Egypt's El-Watan newspaper said one of its reporters broke through security lines to interview former President Hosni Mubarak, for the first interview since his ouster in February 2011.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week amid concerns that Russia may sell an advanced missile defense system to Syria. 
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Filipino Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said he recommended to President Benigno Aquino that he withdraw its peacekeeping forces from the Golan Heights after four soldiers were abducted Tuesday. The Syrian rebel Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade said it is holding the soldiers "for their own safety" and has posted two videos of the men to show that they have not been harmed. Two months ago, 20 Filipino peacekeepers were seized from the same area by Syrian rebels and were held for a few days before being released. The peacekeepers were used to demand the pullback of Syrian regime forces. A total 342 Filipino soldiers are posted in the Golan Heights. The group comprises about one third of the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) which has been monitoring the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria since 1974. Del Rosario said the soldiers were being held as human shields against attack by Syrian government forces and their exposure was "beyond tolerable limits."

Syria

British Prime Minister David Cameron is planning to use meetings in the coming days with Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama to discuss the crisis in Syria and suggest that an international conference be held in Britain. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with the Russian president and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov this week and announced a joint plan for a conference. However, while meeting with Jordanian officials in Rome on Thursday, Kerry said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could not be part of a "transitional government" in post-war Syria, which could pose a challenge to the agreement made with the Russians. Earlier, Kerry had said the situation was a matter for the Syrian people to decide. Meanwhile, in a televised speech, Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, increased tensions with Israel saying the Syrian government would respond to recent Israeli airstrikes near Damascus by supplying Hezbollah fighters with weapons. Nasrallah was not clear about the type of arms, but said they were "unique weapons that it had never had before" and that it would "change the balance" of power with Israel. On Thursday, Syrian officials said they would retaliate for the Israeli strikes last weekend. Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told Agence France-Presse they would "not allow this to be repeated" and "would respond immediately to any Israeli attack."

Headlines  

• New York prosecutors have accused eight men of leading one of the largest cyber bank thefts ever spanning 27 countries and stealing $45 million from two Middle East banks.
• Radical Islamist cleric Abu Qatada said he would voluntarily return to Jordan if the parliament ratifies a treaty with Britain, which has been "determined" to deport the international terror suspect.
• A Finnish couple and an Australian student abducted in December 2012 in Yemen, reportedly by al Qaeda militants, were released near the Omani border overnight Wednesday.
• Iran has announced a new attack drone, the Epic, capable of surveillance and offensive missions according to Iranian media.
• Three men were arrested at a demonstration of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews at Jerusalem's Western Wall protesting a group of women praying in garments traditionally worn by men. 
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Kurdish rebel fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have begun their withdrawal from southeastern Turkey as stipulated by a peace deal negotiated between Turkey and PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in March. Over 40,000 people have died in the conflict, which has spanned nearly three decades. There are an estimated 2,000 PKK fighters in Turkey, and they will withdraw in phases over the course of about four months. The PKK expressed concern over an apparent increase of Turkish troop movements and reconnaissance drones on Tuesday. During a negotiated withdrawal in 1999, the Turkish military ambushed Kurdish fighters, killing an estimated 500 people. Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas said, "We have no doubt about the state but fear provocation from dark forces." There was, however, no sign of military activity on Wednesday. The first fighters are expected to arrive in northern Iraq's Qandil mountains in a week. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized the timeline of the withdrawal, stressing that the fighters should disarm before leaving. But, this was rejected by the PKK, which feared the departing forces would come under assault.

Syria

After meetings on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei V. Lavrov announced a plan to arrange an international conference aimed at ending the over two year conflict in Syria which has killed over 70,000 people. Kerry said their intention is to convince representatives from the Syrian government and the opposition to attend. He continued that the United States and Russia want to hold the peace conference "as soon as practical, possibly, hopefully as soon as the end of the month." The move seemed to be an optimistic step as the United States and Russia have not been able to agree to unified efforts on Syria. Lavrov said the United States and Russia were committed to a deal that would assure the "sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Syria. Kerry and Lavrov did not offer details on how they would get the warring parties to the negotiating table, nor did they elaborate on why they expect these efforts would be any more successful than those taken in the past. Meanwhile, four Filipino U.N. peacekeepers were seized Tuesday "by an unidentified armed group" while they were on patrol along the ceasefire line between Syria and Israel in the Golan Heights. The Islamist opposition group Martyrs of Yarmouk reportedly published a photo of the four men, and said they were being held for their own safety. The Martyrs of Yarmouk abducted 21 Filipino peacekeepers in the Golan in March, and released them after holding them for three days.

Headlines

• British physicist Professor Stephen Hawking has joined the academic boycott of Israel, pulling out of President Shimon Peres's annual conference over Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
• Suspected al Qaeda militants ambushed and killed three Yemeni air force pilots Wednesday when they were in a car traveling to the Al Anad air base, which is jointly used with the United States.
• Israeli police detained Jerusalem's top Muslim cleric Muhammad Hussein over reported disturbances ahead of Jerusalem Day, when Israelis mark the city's "reunification" during the 1967 Six-Day War.
• U.S. Republican lawmakers are continuing their inquiry into the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi, focusing on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 
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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin for talks on the crisis in Syria. Russia, a longtime ally of the Syrian regime, and the United States have been at odds since the beginning of the uprising in Syria in March 2011, and are divided over the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russia and China have, on three occasions, blocked U.S.-led efforts at the United Nations to pressure Assad to resign. Kerry's visit has come days after Israeli airstrikes on weapons facilities in Syria targeted missiles it says were intended to be transferred to Hezbollah. Russia condemned the attacks and Putin said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to U.S. officials, Kerry is hoping to persuade Putin to take a tougher stance on Syria through two new angles: U.S. threats to arm the Syrian opposition and evidence of government use of chemical weapons. Russia's foreign ministry has criticized the West for politicizing the issue of chemical weapons in Syria. Carla Del Ponte, of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, has suggested chemical weapons were used by opposition fighters rather than the Assad regime. The United States however has dismissed the statement saying it believes that Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles remain under government control.

Headlines

• Egypt's Prime Minister Hisham Qandil announced nine new ministers in a cabinet reshuffle, but fell short of opposition calls for a complete overhaul and Qandil's replacement.
• Libya's Defense Minister Mohammed Mahmoud al-Bargati has resigned over the siege of government ministries, which have continued despite parliament's adoption of a law banning Qaddafi-era officials.
• Iran has started registering candidates for the presidential election set for June 14, with more conservatives entering than reformists.
• Kurdish lawmakers met with Iraqi officials in order to "break the ice" in efforts toward negotiations over oil exports.
• Israeli media and advocacy group Peace Now has reported a freeze on construction tenders after Prime Minister Netanyahu promised U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry he would "rein in" settlement construction in efforts to renew peace talks. 
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In the wake of reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad allegedly used sarin, a chemical weapon, it appears that U.S. President Barack Obama is on the brink of providing the Syrian opposition with lethal weapons. But it certainly does not seem that the Obama administration pursued the full range of nonlethal options available, particularly those involving the international community. Here's an idea: To affect meaningful and decisive change in Syria, which is suffering from a humanitarian catastrophe, the international community should use all available diplomatic and economic leverage to choke off the arms, resources, and money flowing to the regime.

A new Human Rights First report reveals that at least a dozen countries -- including Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Angola, Georgia, Lebanon, Cyprus, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates -- are continuing to provide the Assad regime with weapons, fuel, military technology, and access to financial markets. The paper provides both a unique overview of Assad's third-party supporters and a roadmap the U.S. government can follow to crack down on them. The U.S. government should use diplomacy to try to influence the countries providing these resources as well as the countries allowing these resources to pass through their jurisdiction. In addition, the U.S. Treasury should use existing authority under the Syria sanctions regime to designate those entities continuing to support the Assad regime and block them from the U.S. marketplace.

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Government forces and pro-regime militias attacked and raided the predominantly Sunni coastal village of Baida in northwestern Syria on Thursday, killing at least 50 people. According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the death toll will likely exceed 100, including women and children. It added that many people appear to have been killed in summary execution style shootings or stabbings, and some bodies were found burned. Dozens of villagers remain missing. The attack on the village, near the city of Banias, was spurred by an opposition assault on a bus carrying pro-Assad militiamen, shabiha, killing at least six of them and injuring 20. Regime fighters and shabiha retaliated by surrounding Baida and the nearby town of Maqreb, and attacking them with mortar fire, and then storming Baida. The Syrian military seems to have made significant gains in recent weeks, retaking territory in Homs and several Damascus suburbs. Meanwhile, in a news conference on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel became the first top U.S. official to acknowledge that the Obama administration is considering arming the Syrian opposition. He said, "arming the rebels -- that's and option," but continued that the president is looking at all options. U.S., British, French, Russian, and Chinese officials met with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Thursday to discuss diplomatic options for ending the conflict in Syria. U.N. and Arab League envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi has expressed an intention to resign over the international deadlock on Syria. According to some diplomats he could step down by the end of May.

Headlines  

• The United States has redesigned its largest "bunker buster" bomb with the capacity to destroy Iran's underground Fordow nuclear site, hoping to assure Israel it has the ability to prevent Iranian nuclear weapons development.
• Google has adopted "Palestine" as the tagline for its Palestinian edition saying, "we are following the lead of the United Nations and other international organizations."
• Egypt's birthrate has risen to a 20-year high as Mubarak-era policies lapse.
• Lebanon ratified the first civil marriage which sets an important precedent, despite criticism. 
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Saudi Arabia's health ministry reported five more people have died from a new SARS-like virus and two others are undergoing treatment in an intensive care unit. The virus, know as novel coronavirus, or hCOV-EMC, is in the same family of viruses that include Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which saw an outbreak in east Asia about 10 years ago, as well as those that cause common colds. But unlike SARS, it causes rapid kidney failure. The World Health Organization is not sure how the new virus is transmitted or how widespread it is. All of the deaths reportedly occurred in the oil-rich eastern Ahsa province. The health ministry said it was taking "all precautionary measures for persons who have been in contact with the infected people." Overall, 17 people have died from the virus of the 23 cases that have been detected in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Germany, and Britain.

Syria

Syrian forces have advanced in Homs a day after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made a rare public appearance. According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, pro-government forces took control large parts of the strategic Wadi Sayeh district of central Homs Thursday. Opposition forces have controlled parts of Homs for over a year, and fighting in Syria's third largest city has been severe. If regime forces were to regain control of Homs, it would be a major blow to the opposition. Additionally, clashes were reported in the port of Baniyas, on the Mediterranean cost, for the first time since government forces entered the southern areas of the city in May 2011. Meanwhile, Assad visited the Umayyad Electrical Station marking May Day, the international Labor Day. In efforts to project confidence, Assad said, "They want us to be afraid," adding, "Well, we won't be afraid." At the same time, a new set of blasts hit near a shopping area as well a police headquarters in Damascus's central neighborhood of Bab Mesalla. According to Syria's state news agency, SANA, two people were killed and 28 others wounded in the attacks.

Headlines

• Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi appeared for the second time in court on Thursday in Zintan facing charges of harming state security, but his trial was postponed until September 19.
• Militants killed at least 14 members of the anti-al Qaeda Sunni militia, the Awakening Council, in two attacks near Fallujah while the United Nations reported April was the deadliest month in Iraq since 2008.
• Flash floods in Saudi Arabia have killed 13 people and left four others missing in the heaviest rain experienced by the kingdom in over 25 years.
• The F.B.I. released photos on Wednesday seeking to find three men present at the scene of the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya in September 2012.

Arguments and Analysis

A warning from Erdogan's Turkey (Alp Altinörs, Ahram Online)

"In the Arab world, especially in Tunisia and Egypt, the so-called "Turkish model" has become one of the main propaganda slogans of reactionary forces.

The Nahda government in Tunisia and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt seem to believe that the success of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey can give them the hope of success and the popularity that they themselves are losing.

The economic realities hidden behind this glossy image of Turkey give a different image, however. It is true that the Turkish economy experienced a certain economic growth under the government of Erdogan-GDP grew between 2002 to 2012 by annual average of 4.9 percent (with the exception of 2009, in which GDP fell by 4.8 percent). In 2012, however, the growth rate dropped to 2.2 percent.

An Open Debate on Palestinian Representation (Al Shabaka: The Palestine Policy Network)

"Many Palestinians seek more effective and democratic representation, and to this end advocate reform of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). However, Osamah Khalil warned last month, in "Who are You?": The PLO and the Limits of Representation, that attempts at reform would end up saving a leadership that had lost its legitimacy and argued that a new representative body is needed to achieve Palestinian rights.

In this Al-Shabaka roundtable, policy advisors and members debate this perspective. Rana Barakat suggests that Palestinians are asking the wrong questions: The discussion should not be over whether to salvage or abandon the PLO, but how to imagine and execute liberation in political, social, cultural, and economic terms, a framing that puts the value of the PLO in context. Mouin Rabbani notes that the PLO was at its most representative when it was least democratic in conventional terms; he questions whether elections make sense in the Palestinian context, and calls for consensus on the national project as the first priority.

Dina Omar evokes Ghassan Kanafi's writing on "blind language" and its obstruction of strategic analysis and, after reviewing recent attempts to revive the PLO, concludes that it may be better to start from scratch. Fajr Harb argues strongly for reforming the PLO beginning with an overhaul of the Charter to represent Palestinians everywhere; otherwise, he warns, Palestinians risk acquiring yet another semi-functional body and becoming more divided than ever. Hani Al-Masri contends that calling for an end to the PLO without a clear alternative in sight could result in a much worse situation of fragmentation into disparate local, tribal, or sectarian groups and the complete dissolution of the Palestinian cause.

As'ad Ghanem points to the common causes at the heart of the Palestinian and Arab conditions and calls for rebuilding the Palestinian national entity after the PLO has "expired" based on seven fundamental principles. Yassmine Hamayel believes Palestinians need to dig into the early part of PLO history and the First Intifada to rediscover ways of working together to build a national identity and resistance, a time when being Palestinian was more than belonging to a political party. Aziza Khalidi calls for accelerating the transformation of an existing Palestinian global cultural space into a more cohesive "global cultural community" that would provide opportunities to create a more effective governance structure."

--By Jennifer T. Parker and Mary Casey