Top news: By a vote of 285 to 272, the British House of Commons defeated a preliminary measure for authorizing a military intervention in Syria, a shocking defeat for Prime Minister David Cameron and a development that all but rules out British participation in punitive strikes against the Assad regime.

The defeat in Parliament represents the greatest setback of Cameron’s premiership and came largely at the hands of rebels within his own party. “It is clear to me that the British Parliament, reflecting the views of the British people, does not want to see British military action,” a chastened Cameron said immediately after the vote. “I get that, and the government will act accordingly.”

There are few military implications for Cameron’s withdrawal from the coalition supportive of strikes against Assad, but the political fallout from his defeat could be serious. On Friday, French President Francois Hollande backed a military intervention, arguing that a chemical attack carried out by the Assad regime that may have left as many as 1,000 people dead “must not go unpunished.” But with Britain out, the Obama administration, which has staked out a clear position that it hopes to launch air strikes in Syria, faces serious challenges in assembling the coalition necessary to secure legal backing for the operation.

Officials in the Obama administration said late Thursday that the vote in Parliament would not dissuade the United States from striking Syria.

Snowden revelations: The Washington Post revealed on Thursday one of the most closely held secrets within the U.S. government: the size of the classified intelligence budget. The document, which was provided to the paper by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, reveals that U.S. intelligence spending has surpassed its Cold War peak and that the CIA receives a much greater portion of funding than was previously thought.