A senior Israeli official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced cautious support on Thursday for a plan to place Syria's chemical weapons under international control.

• September 12, 2013

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics during August 16-31st 2013
By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Regional Analyst

Key Points:

• A chemical attack is allegedly launched in Damascus’ suburbs, threatening to elicit a U.S. military response and possibly a wider regional war. Turkey backs the Americans, with Prime Minister Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul saying Bashar al-Assad must go.
• Kurdish fighters in northern Syria establish their own administrative areas in the country while continuing to fight jihadist elements of the Free Syrian Army. Their autonomy may be a flashpoint should Turkey be forced to make a ground incursion into Syria.
• Egypt’s military-backed government continues to snipe back at the Turkish prime minister, who has emerged as its most vocal critic outside of Egypt.
• The poor relations between Ankara and Cairo may be costing Turkey influence and money with regional partners who supported the military putsch that unseated Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.

• September 12, 2013

The European Union rejected on Wednesday Russian pressure to deter Ukraine and other former Soviet republics from deepening trade ties with Europe, saying any kind of retaliation was unacceptable.

• September 11, 2013

China said it would not tolerate provocation after Japan's top government spokesman said on Tuesday Japan might station government workers on disputed islands in the East China Sea to defend its sovereignty.

• September 10, 2013

A plan to tax financial transactions in 11 European Union member states from 2014 is illegal, the bloc's lawyers have concluded, dealing what could be a final blow to the measure as proposed.

• September 10, 2013

The United States said on Monday it disagreed with a Russian request for the U.N. nuclear agency to analyze the possible risks involved if a Syrian reactor were to be hit during military strikes.

• September 9, 2013

China's Foreign Ministry urged a role for the U.N. Security Council in resolving the crisis in Syria on Friday after the United States said it had given up trying to work with the council on Syria, accusing Russia of holding it hostage.

• September 6, 2013

The U.S. special envoy for North Korea will travel to South Korea, China and Japan next week for consultations on policy toward Pyongyang, the State Department said on Thursday.

• September 6, 2013