WASHINGTON (AFP) - Senior Republican senator John McCain urged the United States Tuesday to consider arming the opposition battling the forces of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

NEW DELHI, India (AFP) - The resignation of Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed on Tuesday was "involuntary" his party said, accusing the opposition, backed by police and military elements, of forcing him from office.

QUITO (AFP) - An Ecuadoran court has ordered two journalists to pay President Rafael Correa $2 million in damages stemming from a book that detailed contracts his brother received from the government, a defense lawyer said Tuesday.

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Tuesday after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that he was ready to cooperate with all efforts toward stability in his strife-torn country.

THE HAGUE (AFP) - The Dutch government recalled its ambassador from Syria on Tuesday, following similar steps by a number of other European countries.