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sized influence in post-Assad Syria and giving a boost to Islamist-minded groups if the regime falls.
• "Qatar is working to establish an Islamic state in Syria," Abu Ziad, the commander of a brigade in the Damascus suburb, said sullenly, his Kalashnikov rifle resting on a wooden chair next to his tea glass.
• "With their money, the Qataris and a bunch of other countries are exploiting the Syrian revolution, each for their own gains," said Abu Ziad, speaking on condition he be identified by his nom de guerre for fear of reprisals from the Syrian regime.
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'Nation at Risk' warnings about shortcomings in US education 30 years ago still resonate today
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. students are falling behind their international rivals. Young people aren't adept at new technology. America's economy will suffer if schools don't step up their game.
• "A Nation at Risk," the report issued 30 years ago by President Ronald Reagan's Education Department, was meant as a wake-up call for the country. It spelled out where the United States was coming up short in education and what steps could be taken to avert a crisis.
• But its warnings still reverberate today, with 1 in 4 Americans failing to earn a high school degree on time and the U.S. lagging other countries in the percentage of young people who complete college.
• "A Nation at Risk" spooked the public, urged an overhaul of how and what children are taught and sparked the school reform movement in the country. Current reform advocates such Michelle Rhee, the former District of Columbia schools chancellor, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush can trace their work back to the report.
• "We opened the genie from the bottle and said, 'You aren't doing so well,'" said Xavier University of Louisiana President Norman C. Francis, a member of the commission that produced the dire warning. "For us, we felt good about the fact that we wrote something that needed to be said. We had the research. And we hoped we would have a greater measure of return."
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Governments may push workers out of employer health care and into health exchange
• OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- In a move that would capitalize on provisions under President Barack Obama's health care law but could cost the federal government (Continued on page 33)
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