Syria

Mideast Syria Peace Talks.JPEG-00cbc.jpg

FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 file photo, which AP obtained from Syrian official news agency SANA and which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, President Bashar Assad gestures as he speaks during an interview with Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen TV, at the presidential palace in Damascus, Syria. With stakes high and expectations low, Syria's government and its opponents sit down face-to-face at an international peace conference this week for the first time _ muscled to the negotiating table by foreign powers that fear the bloodiest of the Arab Spring uprisings may engulf the entire region in sectarian war. (AP Photo/SANA, File)