peter pham and tom bowman, thank you both very much. >> you're welcome.nk you. >> ifill: still to come on the "newshour": state of the union rhetoric and reality; economic promises and pitfalls; medical prevention comes to the telenovela and a year into the egyptian uprising. but first, with the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: syrian government forces launched a new assault overnight, in a key central region. the opposition said the military stormed districts around hama. at least seven people were killed there and elsewhere. amateur video showed military tanks patrolling hama. activists said shells had exploded throughout the night, and communications were cut off. meanwhile, the russian foreign minister insisted again that moscow will block any u.n. sanctions against its longtime ally. >> ( translated ): we cannot support the proposal to give retrospective blessing to the one-sided sanctions against syria by means of a u.n. security council resolution, as these were sanctions that were declared without any consultation wi