Civil war continues in Syria. Rebel troops advance but Assad’s army resists. International pressure remains divided – the West and Sunni Arab countries on one side: Russia and Iran on the other – even if Moscow is acknowledging that the Alawite regime appears to be weakening day by day and an agreed solution is being timidly sought. This would be the best of solutions if the Kremlin’s intentions were honest, or at best, a less bloody solution. An impotent UN has stated that there are now over 60,000 war victims.