Bouthaina Shaaban, advisor to Syrian President Bashar Assad, gestures as she gives a short press briefing upon her arrival to the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014. Syria’s government and opposition face each other for the second time Sunday, buffered by a U.N. mediator hoping to guide them to a resolution of the country’s devastating civil war. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)