Iranian Atomic Urgency
• The Sunday Times reports that the drone shot down over the Negev beamed images of secret Israeli military facilities and preparations for an upcoming joint US military exercise. The article’s behind a paywall, but YNet and others picked up on the story.
• Freudian slip of the day, via CiF Watch: A video at The Guardian says the drone was shot down over Palestinian territory.
• Tim Marshall of Sky News assesses what a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran might play out.
Arab Spring Winter
• It turns out Syria put out a $1 million bounty on the Western journalists who escaped Homs in February. The Times of London (paywall) picks up on French journalist Edith Bouvier’s upcoming memoir:
Marie Colvin, a correspondent with this newspaper, and Rémi Ochlik, a French photographer, were killed during the shelling of a rebel-run media centre in the Baba Amr district on February 22. Conroy and Edith Bouvier, a reporter at Le Figaro, were badly wounded.
In a memoir published last week, Bouvier said the Syrians had hunted for the surviving journalists as they hid in a house a few hundred yards from the front line.
“The regime didn’t want any news about what was happening to get out. After the bombing, it launched ‘Dog-hunt’, its mission to capture us,” said Bouvier, 32.
• Time to break out the worry beads, part 1:
How the Arab Spring’s Prisoner Releases Have Helped the Jihadi Cause
• Time to break out the worry beads, part 2:
Few good options to secure Syria chemical arsenal
• Good news, bad news, and good news from the LA Times and AP:
- The good news: The Free Syrian Army captured a missile base which held Soviet-era S-75 surface-to-air missiles.
- The bad news: The FSA got an assist from an Al-Qaida-linked group called Jubhat Al-Nusra, which helped itself to anti-aircraft machine guns, armored vehicles, and rocket-propelled grenades.
- The good news: Government jets subsequently destroyed all the missiles (as far as we know).
• A new Human Rights Watch report accuses Syria of dropping Russian-made cluster bombs on civilian areas.
• Syrian rebels say they detained 13 Hezbollah operatives in Homs. The Daily Star quoted a rather unequivocal Free Syrian Army spokesman:
“They were armed and in military uniform when they were captured in Homs’ countryside,” Masri said.
“They were not pilgrims and not on a tour.”
• Reuters: Bashar Assad has assumed personal command of the Syrian armed forces. Moral of the story: If you want a crackdown done right, you gotta do it yourself.
Rest O’ the Roundup
• Israeli elections scheduled for Jan. 22. Only 101 days to go . . .
• If you’re following the Israeli media wars, the Jerusalem Post and Haaretz are interested in taking over the Maariv newspaper.
• Good news and bad news from Sweden:
- Unnerved by attacks, Sweden‘s Jews refuse to lower their profile
- Fearing loss of lucrative deal, Sweden opposes new Iran sanctions
• YNet: Israel joins IOSCO European Regional Council
• One year after her controversial interview with the just-released, dazed, Gilad Shalit, Egyptian reporter Shahira Amin says she has no regrets.
(Image of missile via Wikimedia Commons/MaxBioHazard)
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream.
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