Hello, all! Here’s your Monday evening news.

International Developments

❖ Bandar Bush got a promotion! He’s now the Intelligence Chief for Saudi Arabia. Emptywheel has more , including the deep Syrian implications in this. More here, too.

❖ Syria is now saying “it will not use chemical weapons against its own people, but would do so against an external attack.” Moreover, the Iraqi government has said it will allow Syrian refugees into Iraq “and provide them with support . . ..” And the Arab League “will offer Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ‘a safe exit’ if he steps down quickly and leaves the country . . ..”

❖ The US government is now “training anti-drug specialists in Ghana and plans to do the same in Nigeria and Kenya to counter Latin American cartels smuggling drugs through Africa to Europe . . ..” The Chief of the Europe-Asia-Africa section of the Drug Enforcement Administration said, “we’re already behind the curve in some ways, and we need to catch up.” How far behind the curve they are is well-illustrated by an historical review of the War on Drugs .

International Economics

❖ “ Talk of a possible Greek exit has already sapped investors’ confidence . . ., contributed to higher borrowing costs for Spain and Italy. . . [and is] making a planned return to market funding next year harder for Ireland and Portugal . . ..:” Although the Greeks elected a party that promised to stick with a eurozone “adjustment programme”, the person supposed to privatize things has resigned “and the European Central Bank stopped accepting Athens’ bond as collateral for lending to Greek banks.”

❖ “ Six people were found guilty on Monday [in London] of running an insider dealing ring that netted over

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