EU High Representative Catherine Ashton Wednesday repeated calls for the head of the Syrian regime Bashar al-Assad to step down but stressed that there can be no military intervention without an UN Security Council resolution.

Britain and Russia tried to present a unified front over the Syrian crisis on Wednesday, but their deep differences on whether outside powers should arm the rebels were quickly laid bare. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said arming Syria’s opposition would

France and its African allies want a heavily-armed force able to counter any resurgent Islamist threat in Mali as part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission, diplomats said. The United Nations is considering setting up a 10,000-strong force in the former French colony