The US closed the Syrian Embassy and its two US consulates. Mohammad Hamdan of Dearborn, Mich. was arrested for trying to join Hezbollah in Syria. Nicholas Teausant, 20, a California student and National Guard member, was arrested in Washington near the Canadian border and charged with attempting to support a terrorist organization; he sought to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham in Syria. The US yesterday announced sanctions against seven Russian and four Ukrainian officials for their alleged roles in the Crimean crisis; the White House today declined to respond to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decree recognizing Crimea as independent of Ukraine. Secretary of State Kerry said Daniel Rubinstein would replace Robert Ford, who retired in February, as the US envoy to the Syrian opposition.
