U.S. Vice President Joe Biden praised President Barack Obama's health care law in an address to a civil rights group, a day after the gathering booed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for vowing to repeal the reforms.
Syrian opposition activists say government forces with tanks and helicopters on Thursday killed more than 150 people, mostly civilians, in a village in Hama province.
Russia says it will not heed the demands of the West and vote for sanctions on Syria to try to end the violence there.
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives will hold a vote Wednesday to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the new national health care reform law.