Syria: With the President about to lay out his case for why the US believes Syria used chemical weapons on its own people, the NY Times reports that some American officials said “there is no smoking gun.”  The UN secretary general is expecting a report from weapons inspectors on Saturday and the British Parliament is taking a vote on whether to participate in a retaliatory attack on Syrian forces. Some reports claim that communication intercepts indicate the Syrians ordered a chemical attack, but the US might not be able to say that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad directly ordered the use of chemicals. But, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, “The commander in chief of any military is ultimately responsible for decisions made under their leadership.”

Mayhem: Nigeria killed six pirates in a seaborne gun battle in waters off Nigeria and Cameroon. Nigeria is trying to keep pirates from expanding their hunting grounds into the Gulf of Guinea. Two weeks ago the Nigerian navy killed 12 pirates who had hijacked an oil tanker.

• At least 80 people died in morning rush hour bombings in Baghdad.

The Obit Page: Dr. Jesse Marcel Jr., who said he saw and handled debris from the infamous 1947 crash of an unidentified flying object outside Roswell, N.M., has died in Montana at the age of 76. Marcel’s son said his father brought home pieces of debris that night that were “not of this world.” The Air Force initially issued a press release announcing the crash of a UFO and then retracted it. The editor of The Rooney Report once interviewed the man ordered to write the press release and he said it was not done as a prank.

Elementary: Swedish scientists are on the verge of confirming the 2003 Russian discovery of a possible 115^th element. The element temporarily called “ununpentium” (Uup) is extremely heavy and unstable. Scientists continue to search for what they call an “island of stability,” in the periodic table, a set of very stable heavy elements with as yet unimagined uses. Four atoms of UUp were produced by a high-speed collision of americium-243 and calcium-48 and lasted only milliseconds before starting to decay. So don’t expect to see a rock of it decorating the science teacher’s desk.

Catchy: Paul McCartney announced he’s releasing a new single and album to be called “New”. Sir Paul told the BBC, “It’s catchy, it’s summery, it’s a love song. I think people will recognize it as definitely me.”

-30-