Holocaust Museum Pulls Syria Study Absolving Obama
Tablet
A major United States Holocaust Memorial Museum study of the Obama administration's Syria policy was put on hold after portions given to the American Jewish magazine Tablet were greeted with shock and harsh criticism by prominent Jewish figures. The study apparently excuses U.S. government inaction in the face of mass murder, including the gassing of civilians. Investigators: Assad Used Chemical Weapons 27 Times
Deutsche Welle
United Nations investigators say they have documented 33 chemical weapons attacks in Syria since the outbreak of war in 2011. Twenty-seven were carried out by President Bashar Assad's forces, including seven between March 1 and July 7 of this year. North Korea Touts Possibility of EMP Bomb
Washington Free Beacon
Some liberal arms control advocates dismiss as far-fetched the threat of an attack by North Korea with an electronics-disrupting electromagnetic pulse (EMP). But after its underground nuclear test over the weekend, Pyongyang's official party mouthpiece published a report on "the EMP might of nuclear weapons," outlining such an attack by detonating a warhead in space. It would aim to destroy communications and electrical grids below the blast. Interactive Tool: If North Korea Nukes a U.S. City
NUKEMAP, Daily Caller
An interactive tool created by Alex Wellerstein, a nuclear historian, allows users to see the impact of a nuclear blast on any city anywhere in the world. The casualty numbers are, according to the creator, not definitive. But using this tool, you can get an idea of the casualties and fallout if North Korea's new bomb were detonated in the air a little under a mile above an American city or town. Iran's Spy Service Said to Threaten and Blackmail Journalists
Reporters Without Borders, Washington Free Beacon
Iran's clandestine spy network has been threatening and blackmailing scores of journalists and detaining family members to ensure positive coverage in global media outlets, a new report says. Reporters Without Borders estimates that at least 50 international journalists have been threatened in the past year. Russian Firm Advertised on Facebook During Election
Washington Post
Facebook told congressional investigators that the social network has discovered that it sold ads during the American presidential campaign to a shadowy Russian company seeking to target voters. Facebook officials reported that they traced the ad sales, totaling $100,000, to a Russian "troll farm" with a history of pushing pro-Kremlin propaganda. CIA Deaths Rise in Secret Afghan War
New York Times
The number of CIA operatives killed in Afghanistan since 9/11 now rivals the number killed in Vietnam and Laos almost 50 years ago, the New York Times reports, although there don't seem to be hard figures. Two recent deaths in a clash with ISIS near the Pakistani border bring the Afghan total to at least 18. The agency buried the men quietly in Arlington. The Insane Gifts Saudi Arabia Gave President Trump
Daily Beast
Though he criticized Hillary Clinton for accepting money from Saudi Arabia, Donald Trump accepted 83 gifts from the country during his first foreign visit as president, according to a State Department document obtained in a public-records request. The gifts included cheetah fur robes and a dagger made of pure silver with a mother of pearl sheath. Amusing bling, perhaps, but also emblematic of Trump's embrace of the Saudi regime -- a stark reversal. | 
