Syria opposition rejects UN proposal for Assad to stay

Syria's opposition has rejected a proposal from the UN envoy that would have kept Bashar al-Assad as president during a political transition, with three deputies of his opponents' choosing. UN envoy Staffan de Mistura told Syria's opposition attending peace talks in Geneva that the proposal could end the "vicious cycle" of debate over a transitional period to end the war, a source told AFP on Saturday. The escalating fighting across swathes of Aleppo province has threatened to collapse a fragile