TENSIONS GROW AMID SYRIAN CRISIS

An escalating crisis in Syria has badly frayed U.S.-Russian relations at a delicate time, just as U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin try to renew their relationship.

The U.S. charges that Russia is arming the Syrian government as it attacks its opponents with lethal force.

That along with Moscow’s blocking of tougher action against Damascus, appears to indicate that tough times lay ahead for Putin's relationship with Obama.

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says he will call on the UN Security Council to make United Nations envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan for Syria mandatory.

France would propose that Annan's six-point plan be enforced under the UN's Chapter Seven provision, he said yesterday, describing the conflict in Syria as a "civil war".

Fabius said he hoped Russia would agree to use Chapter Seven, a measure which can authorize the use of force, and he said that a no-fly zone was another option under discussion.

LOCAL NEWS

News is proudly sponsored by: