Martin Nesirky, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman, gestures during a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, Sept. 1, 2013. Work of the UN expert team fresh from investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria was "progressing well," the chief UN spokesman said on Sunday, the eve of its first samples being sent on an accelerated timeline to laboratories for evaluation. (Xinhua/Niu Xiaolei)