Kofi Annan Strikes UN Monitoring Deal

Kofi Annan today touted an agreement he has reached with Syria over how to handle the UN's 30-member advance monitoring team, outlining the "tasks and responsibilities" of the government. An Annan spokesman tells the AP that he's having "similar discussions" with rebels. The team is supposed to ensure that both sides are adhering to Annan's peace plan—which so far they're decidedly not doing. Indeed, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon today criticized the Syrian regime for failing to live up to its end of the bargain.

In a letter to the Security Council, Ban called for the number of monitors to be upped to 300, the BBC reports. Nicolas Sarkozy went even further today, calling for humanitarian corridors to be set up throughout Syria to help the rebels. The wives of the British and German ambassadors, meanwhile, tried a different diplomatic tactic, issuing a YouTube video urging Asma Assad to "stop being a bystander" and convince her husband to stop the bloodshed, CNN reports. Though based on her emails, there's little chance of that. (More Syria stories.)