Shorter Question Everything

Syria

• Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem has cautioned Israel against any act of adventurism and launching a war against his country, saying such a move would only endanger the regime’s stability.

• The Bush administration pulled the U.S. ambassador out of Syria in 2005 to protest the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, in which Syrian intelligence officers allegedly had a hand.
  The Obama administration, continuing its policy of engagement with US adversaries, is close to sending an ambassador back. (Syria was not a charter member of Bush’s “Axis of Evil,” but it some times got included under that moniker by association).

• Damascus summoned foreign envoys to Syria on Thursday to discuss Israel’s recent military threats against the Arab country.
  The meeting was hosted by the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and headed by Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmad Arnous, a Press TV correspondent reported.
  “Israel is trying to drag Syria and the rest of the Middle East into other wars. The recent remarks by extremist Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman are part of an attempt by Tel Aviv to extract itself from big crises it is currently facing…Damascus is, however, fully prepared for any surprise from Israel,” Arnous said during the meeting.
  Earlier on Thursday, Israel’s firebrand Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had warned that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would lose the war and his power, should there be another military conflict between the two sides.

US: Cybersecurity

• “The Caucus, a NY Times Blog, is reporting on the overwhelming majority vote (422 yeas) the House gave a new cybersecurity bill. The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act, H.R. 4061 has a number of interesting provisions. Representative Michael Arcuri, a Democrat of New York who sponsored the bill called cybersecurity the ‘Manhattan Project of our generation’ and estimated the US needs 500 to 1,000 more ‘cyber warriors’ every year in order to keep up with potential enemies. The new bill ‘authorizes one single entity, the director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, to represent the government in negotiations over international standards and orders the White House office of technology to convene a cybersecurity university-industry task force to guide the direction of future research.’”

Romania

• In an unexpected announcement, the president of Romania said Thursday his country would host missile interceptors as part of a new U.S. defense shield.
  President Traian Basescu said the Supreme Defense Council, Romania’s top military and security body, had agreed to such a plan after a request by Washington.
  “Terrestrial interceptors will be placed on Romania’s territory as part of the anti-missile system,” Basescu was quoted as saying by Radio Free Europe. “According to the calendar agreed with the American side, the components located on Romania’s territory will become operational in 2015.”

Canada

• The RCMP will no longer allow Mounties to investigate themselves in cases involving serious injury or death of suspects, RCMP Commissioner William Elliott said Thursday.
  The Mounties will refer cases to outside police forces, or provincial or federal review agencies, Elliott told a news conference at RCMP headquarters.

• B.C. is launching a unique program to help HIV patients before their disease progresses or spreads to others.
  Called Seek and Treat, the $48-million pilot program is being called the first in Canada and possibly the world.
  It’s aimed at finding and helping undiagnosed or untreated HIV patients in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and Prince George in the North, targeting sex trade workers, injection drug users and men who have sex with men.
  Health Minister Kevin Falcon says not only will the project increase access to HIV/AIDS medications, but better treatment will slow the spread of the disease.
  It’s also hoped it will cut the progression to AIDS among those who have been infected with HIV.

• Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin–the darling of right-wing climate-change deniers and FOX News viewers–will speak at a Fraser Institute event in Calgary on March 6.
  The evening with Palin will be hosted by Senator Pamela Wallin, a former CTV broadcaster named to the upper chamber by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Harper represents the riding of Calgary Southwest.
  The Fraser Institute is a Vancouver-based think tank, which was headed for many years by Michael Walker. Walker is a friend of former Republican vice president Dick Cheney.

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