Activists say the Syrian government has dispatched reinforcements to a predominantly Christian village north of Damascus where rebels have clashed with regime troops this week. The director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the government forces sent to Maaloula include

NATO is not going to broaden its role in the Syrian conflict other than providing a platform for debate amongst its members and working to protect Turkey, a NATO spokesman said at a press conference on Friday.

The United States Senate has drafted a bipartisan use-of-force resolution that imposes a 90-day deadline for military intervention in Syria and bars the use of US troops on the ground there. Congress this week is debating President Barack Obama’s push for a military response to what he says was Syrian …