UN to meet as Syrian fighting continues

The United Nations General Assembly convenes Friday to consider the situation in Syria amid reports a major battle is shaping up in the commercial hub of Aleppo. The meeting comes after special U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan resigned after months of unsuccessful attempts to end the conflict that has killed at least 17,000 people, CNN reported. Annan has called the peace mission to end the violence in Syria with a hopeless task and said Russia and China must persuade Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down. At least 62 people were killed Thursday in Hama in what an opposition group called a \"massacre.\" U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said even greater violence is expected in Aleppo, where he said there had been a \"considerable buildup of military means.\" Rebels have struck at a military base near the commercial center, while government troops used heavy weapons and warplanes fired on the western and northern parts of the city The United States has ruled out providing arms to the rebels, but has said it might increase aid because of the inability of the Security Council to agree on stiffer sanctions against the Syrian regime. Conflict-related suffering extends beyond the areas directly involved in fighting. The U.N. estimates farmers have suffered $1.8 billion in losses this year and that as many as 3 million Syrians will need food in the next 12 months.