Norwegian officials, citing time and regulatory issues, turned down a U.S. request to help destroy chemical weapons in the dismantling of Syria's toxic arsenal. "After a comprehensive assessment, the two countries [Norway and the United States] have come...

Syrian forces seized a suburb of Damascus on Thursday from rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad in a push that has shored up government control of the capital's outskirts, state television reported. Assad's forces, backed by Shi'ite fighters from Lebanon, Iraq...
Syria has long claimed that its chemical weapons were a deterrent against Israel, but analysts say the real target was Syrians, so their dismantling by the United Nations will not change the regional balance of power. “Syria’s chemical weapons were never a credible deterrence,”...