UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned of worse to come in Syria, where heavy government shelling was said by opposition activists to have killed hundreds of people in the city of Homs this week. The sharp escalation followed the veto by Russia and China of a UN Security Council resolution supporting Arab League calls for President Bashar al-Assad to step down (p2). Having earlier withdrawn its monitors from Syria, the Arab League is expected to now seek UN support for their return, although Damascus may well resist (p3). Amid Syrian opposition requests for humanitarian help if not direct military intervention, the US and EU states are considering tougher financial sanctions.
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