Men dig graves for future casualties of Syria's civil war, at Sheikh Saeed cemetery in Azaz city, north of Aleppo, December 30.

The international peace envoy for Syria said the situation in the country was deteriorating sharply but a solution was still possible under the terms of a peace plan agreed in Geneva in June. This conflict has killed at least 44,000 people since the start of an uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011. Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah