Syrian defecter says Assad will use chemical weapons (Second Coming Watch Update #167)

Syrian defecter says Assad will use chemical weapons. According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Nawaf Fares, the first Syrian ambassador to defect told the BBC that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will use chemical weapons against opposition forces and may have already deployed them. Fares, the most prominent politician to defect since the uprising against Assad began, insisted that the president's days were numbered but warned he would be prepared "to eradicate the entire Syrian people" to remain in power.

Hillary Clinton says the United States will use 'all its power' to prevent a nuclear Iran. According to The Times of Israel, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrapped up her visit to Israel saying the US would do everything in its power to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Clinton spoke after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Sa-lam Fay-yad. Clinton told reporters she "compared notes" on Iran with Netanyahu and that pressure on Tehran would continue to ramp up.

A virus named after the Muslim messiah is infecting computers in the Middle East. According to Wired.com, "Mahdi", a new piece of spyware has been rooting through computers, stealing documents and recording conversations since last December. Russia-based Kas-per-sky Lab and Seculert, an Israeli security firm discovered the malware. Mahdi, which is named after files used in the malware, refers to the Muslim messiah who, it's prophesied, will arrive before the end of time to cleanse the world of wrongdoing. Victims have included critical infrastructure engineering firms, financial service companies, and government agencies and embassies mostly located in Iran and Israel.