Aleppo endgame nears as evacuation resumes

By Ellen Francis and Lisa Barrington BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appeared close to victory in Aleppo on Wednesday, but United Nations and rebel officials denied that an operation to evacuate fighters and civilians from the city had been completed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that monitors the war, said Assad had control of Aleppo after the last fighters were brought out of the city and only one small position on the western outskirts remained in rebel