Day 1,203: Syria’s chemical weapons are destroyed. That’s the only good news
Containers of Syrian chemical weapons are transferred from a Danish freighter to a US military ship ahead of their destruction at sea on July 2.
Today is Day 1,203 of the Syrian conflict.
The US ship the Cape Ray has recieved the last of Syria's chemical weapons from Danish carrier the Ark Futura and will be destroying them over the next two months in international waters.
And that's the end of the good news for the day.
In the wake of ISIL's/ISIS's declaration of a cross-border caliphate encompassing the territories the group controls in Syria and Iraq, Australian jihadist preacher Musa Cerantonio has announced on Twitter that he's going to be joining them. "Insha'Allah I will be arriving in Ash-Sham very shortly," he tweeted. (Al-Sham, pronounced by skipping the "l" and doubling down on the "sh," is the Arabic name for the region usually referred to in English as "the Levant.")
Cerantonio isn't the only Western ISIL supporter in the news. Head over to the BBC to read about a Welshman fighting in Syria telling a BBC reporter in an online chat that "jihad is obligatory," and that he's ready to die for ISIL.
Meanwhile, ABC News reports that the Obama administration is concerned about "a new generation of bombs" produced by Syrian terorists "that could be smuggled onto commercial planes." New security measures will be coming soon to an airport near you.
A slightly different angle: The Guardian has a nicely clear writeup (and helpful map) explaining how and why the water supply is becoming a key weapon in Syria. Worth a read.
The conflict continues.