Death toll up in Syria

THE United Nations’ human rights office has raised its estimate of the death toll from seven months of unrest in Syria to more than 2,900.

A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the new figure was based on “reliable sources” both inside and outside Syria.

He added that the names of the dead have all been confirmed and may include some members of the security forces. The figure represents an increase of at least 200 since the beginning of September. The crackdown on protests by president Bashar al-Assad’s forces began in mid-March.