Recent events surrounding Syria have prompted me to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders. It is important to do so at a time of insufficient communication between our societies. Relations between us have passed through different stages. We stood against each other during the cold war. But we were also allies once, and defeated the Nazis together. The universal international organization — the United Nations — was then established to prevent such devastation from ever happening again.

Last year, on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, an assault on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, led to the deaths of four American diplomats, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. The attack, which caused the US government to cancel public-diplomacy programs, evacuate offices, and tighten security substantially, was a massive setback for American diplomatic efforts in Libya.

The Australian elections today may not make global headlines, but as any Australia-watcher will tell you, politics "down under" is dramatic, passionate and almost Shakespearian in its endless narrative of unexpected betrayal, ruthlessness, revenge and the search for redemption. Today’s contest is between incumbent Prime Minister Kevin Rudd from the Labour Party and Tony Abbott, leader of the opposition Liberal and National coalition.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded tepidly to Hassan Rohani's Rosh Hashanah Twitter greetings on Saturday, saying he is not impressed by "Greetings coming from the mouth of a regime that only last week threatened to eradicate the State of Israel." Netanyahu added that the Iranian leadership will be evaluated through its actions, and not via greetings "whose only goal is to divert attention from the fact that even after the elections, it continues the enrichment of uranium and the cunstruction of a plutonium reactor meant to allow it to develop nuclear weapons that will threaten Isr

In recent days, the blogosphere and the international press have been abuzz over the public relations campaign undertaken by Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, and his foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif. Tweets by accounts associated with both men — caveat: the president has not explicitly confirmed his —can be credited with nudging Iran’s public posture on Syria in a more moderate direction, and distancing the new Rouhani administration from the anti-Semitic trope of his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

With parts of Venezuela still dark after a mysterious blackout that left the capital and 17 states without electricity, President Nicolas Maduro was to meet Wednesday with public utility and military officials to respond to the power failure, which he blamed on opposition sabotage. The power shutdown began midday Tuesday after an apparent failure involving high-voltage transmission lines in western Aragua and Guarico states, which led to total power outage in several of the country’s most populous areas.

Here’s some news that will probably get buried amid the debates on Syria in the House of Representatives today. The Swedish Migration Board earlier announced that all Syrian refugees will be granted permanent residence. This means that the 8,000 Syrians who have currently been granted asylum on a temporary basis, together with any of the millions of currently displaced Syrians who can make it to Sweden, will be able to settle there and bring their families.