US to Demand Assad Go: Sources

Josh Gerstein lays out the hot-button points

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama will give a major speech on the Mideast at 11:40am ET today, in which he'll share his vision of the role America should play in a region that's been battling unrest for four months now. Josh Gerstein provides a primer on Politico . Your ears should perk up when Obama broaches these five topics:

• Syria: How far will he go, asks Gerstein? We just slapped sanctions on Bashar al-Assad, but some lawmakers want Obama to flat-out call for Assad to go, as he did with Hosni Mubarak in Egypt (which worked) and Moammar Gadhafi (which hasn't). Gerstein thinks it's unlikely he'll go that far, though. "The president may not want to add to the list of dictators thumbing their noses at the US."

Security Council scrambles to react to Houla massacre

(NEWSER) - The United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency meeting this afternoon to tackle the unraveling situation in Syria, reports the BBC . Member nations will meet in an hour's time, and likely be looking to Syrian ally Russia to pressure Bashar al-Assad to end civilian casualties in the wake of the massacre in Houla; Syria has denied responsibility , blaming instead anti-government terrorists for the carnage. Russia earlier rejected a joint British-French statement condemning the killings, prompting the meeting. More»

Gun battles rage in Beirut

(NEWSER) - Don't look now, but the Syrian conflict might not be confined to Syria anymore. Gun battles broke out in Beirut today between factions supporting and opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the New York Times reports, in Lebanon's most intense outbreak of violence since the Syrian uprising began. The fighting was eventually quelled by military intervention, but not before a pro-Syrian group had been driven out of its predominantly Sunni neighborhood, and the streets had been lined with burning cars. More»

But opposition decries elections as sham

(NEWSER) - Even as violence continues in Syria despite last month’s ceasefire, voters today headed for the polls for a parliamentary election that the government insists is a sign of political reform. But the opposition calls it a sham: "All of this is a theater show,” one man tells Reuters . “The candidates are businessmen and pawns of strong people in power.” More»

Opposition doubts government restraint, though truce seems to largely hold

(NEWSER) - Syria's fragile ceasefire seems to be largely holding, as renewed protests today put it to its first real test. But one Hama protester was shot dead by security forces as thousands of protesters again took to the streets, reports the BBC, while the New York Times notes that clashes had broken out in scattered areas of the country. Opposition leader Burhan Ghalioun has his doubts, saying officials have their "hand on the trigger," Reuters reports. "While we call on the Syrian people to protest strongly ... we ask them to be cautious because the regime will not respect the ceasefire and will shoot." More»