ominous
development for the regime. Until just last weekend, both Damascus and Aleppo were relatively untouched by the uprising from remained strongholds of the regime. Here and in many other places, the government faces its most deadly and
blatant
challenge yet – a real invigorated revolt starting to send victory after 16 months of deadlocked carnage. The regime has to
hit back
, or admit defeat. Nobody knows how this drama will end, but many feel that it is moving into its final phases.
The United States says it's very concerned about Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons and is consulting Syria's neighbors about the need to secure them. The White House was responding to an allegation from a Syrian military
defector
that President Assad's forces were moving chemical weapons for possible use against rebels.
A radical Islamist MP in Egypt has been convicted of violating public decency over an incident in which he was accused of performing a sexual act with a woman in his car. The case is seen as an embarrassment for radical Islamists known as Salafists. Sebastian Usher reports.
The story could have come out of one of Egypt's famous film comedies
mocking
the hypocrisy of its supposed 'moral guardians'. Ali Wanis was found in his car with a young woman in a compromising position. He originally claimed no sex was involved and the woman was his niece. The shame of the incident sent him into hiding, from where he's continued to claim his innocence. He was suspended from the Salafist party al-Nour, but the damage was already done to his and its reputation.