BBC News with Gaenor Howells

President Obama has been meeting the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss their (shared concerns) about Iran. The United States and Israel accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons, but they've differed over how to respond. Paul Adams reports from Washington.

Last year, Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu clashed publicly over the issue of Jewish settlements in the (occupied territories). Their disagreements over Iran are rather less conspicuous but no less real. With Mr. Netanyahu by his side, Barack Obama echoed his own speech to the pro-Israel lobby, saying all options were on the table to prevent Iran from (obtaining) a nuclear weapon. But he said he and Mr. Netanyahu both preferred to resolve the issue diplomatically. For his part, Mr. Netanyahu reminded the president Israel had the (sovereign right) to make its own decisions.

People fleeing the Syrian city of Homs have given the BBC detailed accounts of what they say are atrocities by the security forces. One man told our correspondent in Homs Paul Wood that he saw his own young son being brutally killed by soldiers.

The Ibrahim family told us they had witnessed a (massacre). On Friday, in the Jobar district of Homs, Ahmed Ibrahim told me that 36 men and boys were taken away. Among them were four members of his own family, including his 12-year-old son, Hozaifa. All were dead now, he said, their throats cut. Laying flat behind some trees, he saw everything.

"One soldier held down each one of them with a boot; another came with a knife," he said. "I could hear their screams."

Ahmed Ibrahim talking to our (correspondent) in Homs.

In Washington, a senior American senator John McCain has called for US-led air strikes against the forces of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Addressing the Senate, Mr McCain said arming the opposition wasn't enough to save (innocent lives).

"The only realistic way to do so is with foreign air power. Therefore, at the request of the Syrian National Council, the Free Syrian Army and Local Coordinating Committees inside the country, the United States should lead an (international effort) to protect key population centres in Syria, especially in the north, through air strikes on Assad's forces."

Russian riot police have broken up a protest in Moscow against the election of Vladimir Putin to the presidency, arresting dozens of demonstrators. Hundreds of people shouting slogans such as "Russia without Putin" had refused to leave Pushkin Square, where thousands had attended an opposition (rally). Amongst those arrested was Alexey Navalny, a prominent anti-corruption activist.

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