Assad May Lose Backers; McCain Calls for Airstrikes

Syria’s two most powerful backers, Russia and China, have started to edge away from their defense of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while U.S. Senator John McCain called for U.S.-led airstrikes to stop his “savagery.”

Russia and China decried the violence in Syria and dispatched diplomats to the region this week, raising the possibility of a diplomatic breakthrough that could end their opposition to United Nations Security Council action critical of the Assad regime.