U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Photo: wiki commons.

NY Times – Syrian forces pushed rebels back from strongholds near Damascus on Tuesday as some of the world’s top diplomats prepared at the United Nations to try to press President Bashar al-Assad to leave office through a Security Council resolution.

Much of the attention focused on Russia, which stoutly opposes an Arab League proposal, backed by Western and Arab diplomats, that calls for Mr. Assad to cede power as part of a transition to democracy.

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