TODAY'S TALKING POINTS 10-13-15

TODAY'S TALKING POINTS

The U.S. gave 50 tons of ammunition to rebel groups in Syria. U.S. military planes used an air drop of 112 pallets of small arms ammunition and “other items like hand grenades” in an urgent effort to support a coalition of rebel groups fighting in Northern Syria. With Russia entering the war in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the country is starting to look like a proxy war between us and them — an impression that President Barack Obama desperately wants to avoid.

Insurgents hit the Russian embassy in Syria with mortars Tuesday morning as hundreds rallied in support of Russian airstrikes.

Iran’s parliament approved the nuclear deal. The country will see sanctions lifted in exchange for rolling back their nuclear program. The plan needs to clear one last hurdle with the Guardian Council before it's final, but Iran plans to start pulling their centrifuges later this week.

There's been an escalation in Israeli-Palestinian violence. Two men stabbed and shot 18 passengers on a bus in East Jerusalem Tuesday just moments before a man slammed his car into a bus stop and stabbed people waiting for a ride. Nearly daily attacks by Palestinians have left dozens of Israelis dead or wounded over the past two weeks. In light of the string of stabbings and shootings, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is convening an emergency session of the security cabinet to weigh new security measures — including offering Israelis easier access to firearms.

The U.K. will record anti-Muslim hate crimes as a separate category for the first time. The government is about to reveal the number of hate crimes that occurred over the past year — and they suspect a spike in crimes against Muslims. The new focus on Islamophobia elevates the issue to the same level as anti-Semitic attacks, which have been measured in their own category for some time.

Turkey is blaming the Islamic State group for the Ankara suicide bombings. After sorrow and fury engulfed Turkey in the wake of a suicide bombing that killed nearly 100 people, mostly Kurds, at a peace rally on Saturday, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu claimed that the Islamic State group was responsible. He claims the terrorist group is attempting to influence Turkey’s upcoming elections. Meanwhile, angry protesters inside the country are blaming the government for not preventing the attack.

Expert reports called the Tamir Rice shooting “reasonable.” Although the decision still ultimately rests in the hands of a grand jury, an indictment against the rookie cop who shot 12-year-old Rice seems unlikely after two outside experts deemed the use of deadly force in the case justifiable. "The issue is, in short, could a reasonable police officer have believed Rice's gun was a real firearm," one of the experts wrote. "The answer must clearly be answered in the affirmative."