Russia says Syria army halts Aleppo attacks as rebels cornered

Syria's army on Thursday halted its attacks in Aleppo to allow for trapped civilians to be evacuated, Russia's foreign minister announced, after advancing regime forces cornered rebels in the city. "I can tell you that today combat operations by the Syrian army have been halted in eastern Aleppo because there is a large operation underway to evacuate civilians," said Sergei Lavrov. "There is going to be to a column of 8,000 evacuees" travelling five kilometres (three miles), Lavrov said after ta