ed by a proposed UN-sponsored "negotiation" in Geneva. But the situation on the ground continues to deteriorate at an exponential rate. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the death toll has now entered the range of 94,000-120,000 people, while UNHCR updated its figure of internally displaced persons to 4.2 million. T

gh some reporting indicates that Russia is more at ease EFTA00701937 with the prospect of a transitional government. The death toll — according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights — has reached an estimated 17,000 since the uprising began in March 2011. The July 5 alleged defection of Syrian Brigadier- General Manaf Tlass, a co