President Barack Obama expressed skepticism Monday that setting up a no-fly zone in Syria or other major US military action could save lives or tip the balance against President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Speaking to PBS television, Obama said critics urging bold intervention failed to understand there was no simple solution and "if you set up a no-fly zone, that you may not be actually solving the problem." Obama's deputies last week announced plans to arm the Syrian opposition after the administration concluded the Assad regime had resorted to using chemical weapons.

WASHINGTON - An outside group supporting President Barack Obama's agenda plans to air a series of ads this summer promoting Obama's health care overhaul. Organizing for Action intends to spend at least $1 million this summer on ads to draw attention to the implementation of the health care law, including its quality of care and coverage of uninsured Americans.

President Barack Obama praised Ben Bernanke for his performance as head of the US Federal Reserve on Monday, but did not say whether Bernanke will stay on at the end of his term next year. "I think Ben Bernanke's done an outstanding job," Obama said in an interview on the Charlie Rose Show, a current affairs interview program broadcast on the PBS television network. "Ben Bernanke's a little bit like Bob Muller, the head of the FBI, where he's already stayed a lot longer than he wanted or he was supposed to," he said.

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland - Cast as the outlier of the Group of Eight leaders by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the eve of their meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin is not wavering in his seemingly unshakable support for the Syrian regime. Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama both admitted Monday that their two countries do not see eye-to-eye on the deepening crisis in Syria that has so far killed at least 93,000 people and wounded countless others.