Top news: Syrian activists claim that up to 70 people were killed in an explosion that flatted part of a residential neighborhood in the city of Hama. Activists claim the explosion was caused by government shelling or a scud missile attack. State media put the number killed at 16 and said the explosion came from a rebel bomb-making factory.
According to the opposition, more than 100 people have been killed in Hama in recent days, despite a U.N. brokered ceasefire. Violence has continued in the Syrian capital as well.
U.N. envoy Kofi Annan told the Security Council on Tuesday that Syrian troops had not withdrawn from population centers. Two U.N. observers have now returned to Hama ahead of a team of 300 that the U.N. would like to send. Syria's main opposition group is calling for a special Security Council session to discuss the ongoing violence in Hama.
France's foreign minister said on Wednesday that the U.N. should consider allowing international military action in Syria if the peace plan fails.
International justice: At the Hague, former Liberian President Charles Taylor was convicted on 11 counts of aiding and abetting war crimes in Sierra Leone during the 1990s. He is the first African head of state convicted by an international tribunal.