CHEMICAL WEAPONS   The violence in Syria since the March 2011 start of the uprising against Assad has claimed more than 15,000 lives, according to aid agencies figures cited as credible by the UN. At least 66 people were killed yesterday around the nation, the Local Coordinating Committees, an activist group that tracks the daily death toll, said in an e-mail. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-13/syria-s-bloody-massacre-raises-calls-for-action-on-assad.html