The United States on Monday weighed possible further sanctions against Damascus as it hoped for "a strong and unified message" from the U.N. Security Council over the deadly crackdown in Syria.

"We've issued now several sets of sanctions against (President Bashar) Assad and his regime," State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.

U.S. President Barack Obama said he was "appalled" by Syria's crackdown on Sunday which activists say killed nearly 140 people and vowed to step up pressure on President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

In a statement, Obama saluted demonstrators who have taken to the streets as "courageous" and said Syria "will be a better place when a democratic transition goes forward."

As reports of a brutal military crackdown on the flashpoint protest city of Hama unfurled on Sunday, Britain, Germany, France and Italy condemned the violence while a U.S. diplomat said it was "full-on warfare."

Syrian forces killed nearly 140 people on Sunday including 100 when the army stormed Hama to crush dissent on the eve of Ramadan, activists said.

U.S. and North Korean negotiators on Friday held a second day of talks on the North's nuclear weapons program, officials said.

The U.S. special envoy on North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, and the North's first vice foreign minister Kim Kye-Gwan held about 4.5 hours of talks at the U.S. mission to the United Nations.

U.S. Ambassador Maura Connelly has said that Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet “appears to reflect less the will of the people and more the will of external interests.”

During a reception held at the embassy to bid farewell to Public Affairs Officer Ryan Gliha on Wednesday, Connelly said: “There is a danger that Lebanon will lose many of its hard-fought gains on the level of democratic participation and transparency.”

The United States tested North Korea's willingness to negotiate giving up its nuclear arsenal on Thursday in talks that a top North Korean official said had been "constructive".

"The atmosphere was good, the meeting was constructive and interesting. We exchanged views on general issues," North Korea's first vice foreign minister Kim Kye-Gwan said during a break on the first day of the talks in New York.

The top commander of U.S. special operations forces said Wednesday that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida is bloodied and "nearing its end," but he warned the next generation of militants could keep special operations fighting for a decade to come.

Navy SEAL Adm. Eric T. Olson described the killing of bin Laden by a special operations raid on May 2 as a near-killing blow for what he called "al-Qaida 1.0," as created by bin Laden and led from his hideout in Pakistan.

The U.S. Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Democratic Sen. John Kerry, introduced a bill to counter a Republican-crafted legislation approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee to bar defense aid to Egypt, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority and Yemen if groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hizbullah and Hamas are part of the government.

Kerry said the country faces "tremendous foreign policy and national security challenges worldwide, from helping countries manage peaceful, democratic transitions in the Middle East, to preventing violence, conflict, and terrorism from engulfing key partners, and to leading humanitarian responses to forestall drought, famine and natural disasters."

Olympic silver medalist Jeret "Speedy" Peterson was found dead in a remote canyon in Utah in what police are calling a suicide.

One of the world's most risk-taking and innovative freestyle skiers, the creator of the one-of-a-kind "Hurricane" called 911 before shooting himself, police said. The 29-year-old Peterson had been cited for drunken driving Friday in Hailey, Idaho, and had pleaded not guilty.

The United States strongly condemned an attack on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, saying the Lebanese government should conduct a "full investigation" into the roadside bombing.

State Department spokeswoman Heide Fulton said on Tuesday that the government should "ensure the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice."