Today's Headlines and Commentary

The New York Times reports that rockets may have been fired from Gaza into Israel today. If the reports are correct, this action would break the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that was reported to have been renewed for an additional twenty-four hours yesterday. But, as the Globe and Mail explains, there hasn’t been much progress in the negotiations between the two parties and there was a high risk of renewed violence when the extension was signed. In remarks yesterday, President Obama hailed the progress made by Iraqi and Kurdish forces against Islamic State fighters, reports the Washington Post. Yesterday, Iraqi and Kurdish militaries, aided by U.S. airstrikes, were able to recapture the Mosul Dam and to push Islamic State militants away from the Kurdish capital. The United States has banned flights over Syria, after a report released by the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that extremists in Syria are armed with anti-aircraft weaponry. The Guardian has the details. The Hill reports that the U.S. has nearly finished destroying its share of Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons. The announcement came as part of President Obama’s remarks yesterday. The Australian government is coming under heavy criticism after emails within the Australian immigration department reveal that the agency was trying to deny asylum for Syrian refugees. The Guardian reports that the emails, obtained under freedom of information laws, also indicate that the Australian immigration authorities were attempting to repatriate the Syrian asylum seekers, a move that the Australia director of Human Rights Watch has labeled “unthinkable.” Afghanistan remains leaderless. The Times tells us that, as the standoff between presidential candidates Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah continues, a group of Afghan government officials have signaled that they will seize power if the political stalemate is not resolved soon. The Yemeni government paid more than $1 million to the families of those injured or killed in a U.S. drone strike. Greg Miller of Post combed through official Yemini government documents to find the details of the payments. Here’s the full story. Violence continues in Ukraine. The Times reports that separatist rebels have killed “dozens” of Ukrainian citizens who were attempting to flee the eastern region of the country. Things are not getting any better in Ferguson, Missouri. Jane covered the news that the National Guard had been deployed to Ferguson to help control the situation, but the Times reports that, notwithstanding the Guard's deployment, violence plagued the city once again last night. Politico also has additional details: in connection with last night, 31 people were arrested. President Obama sent Attorney General Eric Holder to Ferguson to head up the federal investigation into the killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown: the Hill covers Holder’s progress. Alexander Joel, civil liberties protection officer over at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, has penned an op-ed in Politico in which he discusses Executive Order 12333. The piece comes as a reaction to an earlier New York Times article by Charlie Savage regarding the Order, and the possible collection of intelligence about American citizens.  Joel argues that this collection is not as widespread or worrying as Savage would have us believe, explaining that there are a variety of checks in place to limit the “incidental” gathering of American citizens’ information, and to protect Americans’ identities if and when that information is gathered:

… EO 12333 requires procedures to minimize how an agency collects, retains or disseminates U.S. person information. These procedures must be approved by the attorney general, providing an important additional check. […] And even if the NSA determines that information about an American constitutes foreign intelligence, it routinely uses a generic label like “U.S. Person 1” in intelligence reporting to safeguard the person’s identity. The underlying identity may be provided only in a very limited set of circumstances, such as if it’s necessary to understand the particular foreign intelligence being conveyed.

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