Assad's Assaults Upon Syrian Opposition Continues

Bashar al Assad's forces continue their brutalization of the Syrian people and are now focusing their efforts on the area around Idlib in Northern Syria. That comes on the heels of multiple reports that Assad's forces have mined the border with Turkey to thwart refugees from crossing into Turkey to escape the violence. The UN has updated its tally of those who have been killed or displaced by the fighting:

UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan is in Turkey and has met Syrian opposition figures during his peace mission. He says he expects Damascus to reply on Tuesday to his proposals on the crisis.

Meanwhile, the UN says 230,000 Syrians have fled their homes in the past year.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says 30,000 have fled abroad while 200,000 are displaced within Syria.

The UN says more than 8,000 people - many of them women and children - have been killed since the anti-government protests erupted.