US senators push for military aid to Syrian rebels

US senators, including some of President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats, pushed the White House on Thursday to shift its policy and provide lethal military assistance to rebels waging a civil war against Syrian President Bashar Assad.

It is time for Washington to do more to oust Assad and end a two-year conflict in which more than 70,000 people have been killed and millions displaced, they said at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. (Reuters)