Syria defies US threat of crackdown

Syrian forces kept up a relentless campaign against the country's two-month uprising, using tanks to shell a besieged border town as President Barack Obama called on Syria's president to lead his country to democracy or "get out of the way".

President Bashar Assad has taken pains to portray confidence and a steely determination in recent days amid signs that his brutal crackdown is terrifying the population into submission.