Today's Headlines and Commentary

French President François Hollande is in the United States, visiting President Obama. Last night, Hollande was honored at an extravagant State Dinner, before which President Obama affirmed that U.S.---France relations have never been stronger. At a joint press conference, the two leaders spoke most extensively on issues surrounding the Syrian conflict. Hollande and Obama have agreed over most issues involving Syria; President Hollande was swift to answer Obama’s call for strikes against Syria last year. Both leaders condemned Russian President Putin for his reluctance to allow humanitarian intervention in Syria. Another topic at the joint press conference: peace talks in Geneva, between opposing sides in the Syrian conflict. President Obama said peace negotiations are "far from achieving" their goals in Syria.  Read more in the Washington Post.  According to Al Jazeera, negotiations indeed have stalled amidst flying accusations and few concrete and realistic proposals to end the civil war---which has claimed over 130,00 lives to date. The Guardian reports that no much progress has been made since a provisional ceasefire was called in the Syrian city of Homs; aid workers have had serious problems entering the city and providing help. NSA surveillance also came up at yesterday’s Hollande-Obama press conference, and was the subject of a Politico piece. President Obama was clear to say that the United States does not have a “no-spy” agreement with any country, even as he was standing next to President Hollande. President Obama was quick to follow up by explaining that the U.S. is “committed to respecting the privacy of the people of France." Relatedly, at a congressional hearing yesterday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Edward Snowden exploited a "perfect storm" of security weaknesses.  The Times has more.  Also in the Times: yesterday's "Day We Fight Back"---an online protest against mass surveillance---didn't drum up widespread participation from key players on the web.  Wikipedia reportedly did not join in, and some tech companies only displayed a banner on their websites.    Rand Paul will be filing a class action lawsuit against President Obama, the NSA and others involved in the practice of collecting domestic telephony metadata, according to The Hill. Paul claims that the practice obstructs Fourth Amendment freedoms. The Senator will file his suit in Washington as a private citizen. As Paul storms the court, Maryland lawmakers are looking to weaken the NSA in another way: by cutting off power and water to NSA headquarters, located right outside the state’s capital. A newly introduced bill in the Maryland House of Delegates would bar any agency that receives state funds from doing business with any federal agencies that are involved in warrantless metadata collection.  Paul panned the proposal last week. Trouble in Egypt: the government there has detained an employee of the U.S. Embassy.  The latter reportedly had worked as a liaison to the Muslim Brotherhood. Tempers and tensions are rising around recent Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. A high-ranking official of the Palestinian Authority has threatened violence, should the peace talks fail. Jibril Rajoub, currently the minister of youth and sport for the PA, spoke from Tehran, a move that will surely reinforce his threat. TIME has more on the developing story. In Pakistan, a grenade attack killed thirteen people at a movie theater.  The Washington Post reports.   Honduras has suspended eight of its consuls in the United States. The President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, explained that the move was necessary to investigate whether the consuls had issued illegal identity papers. Don’t point lasers at planes. That’s the message that the FBI wants to get out with a new program, meant to stop people from administering “laser strikes” on aircrafts. The FBI is offering a monetary incentive for individuals to report any laser-pointing activity that they might detect. The Atlantic has more. A coordinated effort between New York and Italian police forces succeeded in breaking up a major trans-Atlantic mafia ring yesterday. Twenty-four people were arrested on charges of drug smuggling, accused of plotting to move “hundred of millions of dollars in drugs between South America, Italy and the United States.”