Syria: President Obama has ordered the Pentagon to identify more targets inside Syria, including forces that handle chemical weapons. Other targets would be missile launchers, aircraft, and artillery that deliver chemical weapons, and the air defenses that protect them. The Syrian regime is dispersing forces and equipment to make them harder to hit.

  British military scientists say they found traces of sarin nerve gas in clothing taken from a patient treated after the Aug. 21 chemical attack in Syria. The finding backs the American claim that the Syrian military used nerve gas to kill 1,400 people.

CNN reports that 24 Senators support the president’s resolution to attack with 17 opposed, with 59 undecided.  The network counts the House vote as 26 yes, 102 no, 284 undecided and 17 unknown.

Little discussed in the Syrian crisis are the refugees who have fled to other countries, now put at 2 million by the United Nations. Lebanon, a country of 4 million people, is host to 1 million refugees. The UN reports that another 4.25 million Syrians are displaced within their own country.

Econ 101: The US added 169,000 jobs in August, less than expected, but still progress. The unemployment rate dropped a tick from 7.4% to 7.3%.

Small Screen: Actor and occasional rage-a-holic Alec Baldwin will join the left-wing talkies with his own weekly show on MSNBC, the network announced yesterday. He gets the 10 pm Friday spot. He says he likes talking to smart, engaging people.

Smokey Says: The wildfire that burned 371 square miles in and around Yosemite National Park was started by a hunter’s illegal campfire, according to the US Forest service. The bill is $81 million and rising.

High Honor: Nepal announced it will name two Himalayan peaks after Sir Edmund Hillary and his guide Tenzing Norgay, the first men to summit Mt. Everest in 1953. Since then, about 4,000 climbers have made it to the top. Hillary died in 2008, Tenzing in 1986.

Parting Shot: Shellie Zimmerman, wife of the man who shot Trayvon Martin in Florida, has filed for divorce. She recently pleaded guilty to perjury for telling the court the couple was broke when husband George was applying for bail after killing the unarmed Martin.

End Zone: Denver quarterback Peyton Manning threw a record-tying seven touchdown passes in last night’s NFL opener against Baltimore. He’s the sixth to do so, but it’s been 44 years since Joe Kapp threw seven for Minnesota.

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