Headlines from around the world: 9/2/13

With the uneasy situation between the United States and Syria, president Barack Obama is seeking congressional support to impose military force on Syria. Already waiting in the Mediterranean sea are five United States naval destroyers who are armed and waiting for the order to attack. The President believes that military action is a positive step as he said, “To deter, disrupt, prevent and degrade the potential for future uses of chemical weapons or other weapons of mass destruction.” The decision on whether to attack Syria is surrounded with controversy. Russia has been in support of Syria’s government and would block any attempt by the U.S. and other nations to get the United Nations approval to move on Syria. Other nations with ties to the ongoing debate include Israel, whom[a] believes they may be attacked if their ally the U.S. attacks Syria, and are set to debate their next move against Syria on Wednesday in Parliament. These actions are influenced by an attack on the Syrian capital, Damascus, on August 21. There were 355 people reported dead, but a U.S. source has put the number as high as 1429 people killed. Regardless of the actual number of dead, chemical weapons were reportedly used to kill the large number of people. While an attack on Syria by the U.S. seems imminent, Congress is set to deliberate on the topic when they return to Washington D.C. on September 9.

Saturday in the Vatican City, pope Francis asked 58 year old Archbishop Pietro Parolin to be his top aide. The position of the top aide replaced the former position of secretary of state after the last few secretaries of state have had tenures mired with scandal. Parolin replaces Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone who had held the post since 2006.

There are currently 28 large fires burning in the United States. Six in both Idaho and California, five in Montana, three in Washington State, two in Wyoming, and one in Minnesota. The largest fire currently burning is the Rim fire in the Stanislaus National Forest in California, it is also the largest fire of 2013 at 222,777 acres and still growing. The rim fire is burning near the Hetch Hetchy reservoir, which is the water supply of San Francisco, and is currently only 40% contained.

In Greenland, scientists are looking into what may be a 460 mile “megacanyon” beneath the frozen ice of Greenland. If the radar images are correct, the megacanyon would be almost twice as large as the Grand Canyon, which at 277 miles long would still be deeper, but not as long. The canyon was found by scientists at the U.S. space agency and NASA who have been studying Greenland recently to try to get information on causes of the rising global temperatures.

In sporting news, the Broncos played their fourth and final preseason game on Thursday. In their final tune-up before this Thursday’s home-opener and season-opener against the Baltimore Ravens, the Broncos second and third units played the whole game. The final score was the Arizona Cardinals 32, the Denver Broncos 24. While this game did not mean anything, and the first team played little if at all, it gave players desperately trying to make the final 53 man roster one last time to shine. Heading into the game against the Ravens, the Broncos have high hopes for the season. After losing to the eventual champs, the Ravens, in the second round of the playoffs last year, it is Super Bowl or bust this year for the Broncos. If the Broncos are going to end up as the top seed in the AFC, they must do it without star linebacker Von Miller for the first 6 games. In other football news, Tim Tebow was released by the Patriots.

Sources: AP, CNN, ESPN, inciweb.gov