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diplomatic stalemate over a deadly Aug. 21 poison gas attack, a French official said Wednesday.
• The plan for Syria to relinquish its chemical weapons, initiated by Russia, appeared to ease the crisis over looming Western strikes against Bashar Assad's regime in Damascus, only to open up new potential for impasse as Moscow rejected U.S. and French demands for a binding U.N. resolution with "very severe consequences" for non-compliance.
• The French official close to the president, who spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations remained sensitive, said Russia objected not only to making the resolution militarily enforceable, but also to blaming the Aug. 21 attack on the Syrian government and demanding that those responsible be taken before an international criminal court.
• Wary of falling into what the French foreign minister called "a trap," Paris and Washington are pushing for a U.N. Security Council resolution to verify Syria's disarmament. Russia, a close ally of Syrian leader Bashar Assad and the regime's chief patron on the international stage, dismissed France's proposal on Tuesday.
• The diplomatic maneuvering threatened growing momentum toward a plan that would allow President Barack Obama to back away from military action. Domestic support for a strike is uncertain in the United States, even as Obama seeks congressional backing for action -- and there has been little international appetite to join forces against Assad.
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• TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) -- Security officials say a powerful explosion has caused serious damage to Libya's Foreign Ministry building in the heart of the coastal city of Benghazi.
• The early Wednesday morning blast also damaged the building next door housing the Benghazi branch of the Libyan Central Bank.
• The officials said several passers-by were slightly injured by the blast, which blew out windows in nearby buildings. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
• The blast came exactly one year after al-Qaida-linked militants stormed the U.S. Consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi, killing the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. Both Wednesday's bombing and last year's attack on the American consulate took place on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, at

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