Bashar al-Assad was framed, he tells ya, framed. Syrian investigators today concluded that the infamous Houla massacre was the work of rebels trying to drum up global outrage against the regime. "Government forces did not enter the area," the general heading up the inquiry said, according to the BBC. The US ambassador to the UN called the findings a "blatant lie," saying there was "no factual evidence … that would substantiate that rendition of events."
The UN Human Rights Council is holding an emergency meeting today, and is expected to release a statement strongly condemning the "wanton killings of civilians" by "pro-regime elements" in Houla. Syrian activists, meanwhile, say they've found evidence of another mass-killing, the third this week. They released a video showing the bodies of 13 men, who they say were factory workers who were forced off a bus and executed by pro-regime thugs. (More Syria stories.)