TOPSHOTS A Syrian refugee family from Aleppo crosses the Bosphorus from Uskudar to the European side of Istanbul on January 25, 2014. Syria's air force struck rebel-held areas around Damascus and Aleppo Saturday, a monitoring group said, as face-to-face peace talks tentatively began in Switzerland. The meeting in Geneva came after months of intense diplomacy aimed at bringing the two warring sides together, but the intense violence on the ground underscored the challenges ahead in trying to end the nearly three-year civil war. AFP PHOTO/BULENT KILIC