WORLD BRIEFS

SYRIA: Rebels press siege on base

Rebels stepped up their siege of a military base in the north Friday as government warplanes bombed surrounding areas to support the defenders, activists said. The fighting around Mannagh air base near the Turkish border came as foreign ministry officials in Ankara said two Syrian air force generals had fled and crossed the border. Rebels have been advancing in different areas in northern Syria, capturing several bases in and around the embattled city of Aleppo in recent weeks. The rebels were reported to have reached the edge of the air base late Thursday and fighting continued into Friday. Meanwhile, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow has proposed talks with the main opposition coalition, even though it had previously criticized Western countries for recognizing the group. Lavrov told reporters Russia has contacted the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces through the Russian Embassy in Egypt.

UNITED NATIONS: Mali asks France for help

Mali's President Dioncounda Traore asked France, the country's former colonial power, Thursday for help in countering an offensive by extremist and terrorist groups who control the northern half of the country and are heading south. French Ambassador Gérard Araud told reporters after an emergency meeting of the Security Council that urgent action is needed against the groups that captured the city of Konna on Thursday and are threatening the city of Mopti, which has 100,000 inhabitants. Araud said Traore sent a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, which he transmitted to the Security Council, and a similar letter to French President François Hollande.

AFGHANISTAN: Karzai, Obama to huddle today

With troops the main agenda item, President Barack Obama meets President Hamid Karzai at the White House on Friday, the culmination of a series of meetings for Karzai with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other officials.