Aleppo / AFP More than 4,000 fighters left rebel-held areas of Aleppo, the Red Cross said on Thursday, in the “last stages” of an evacuation clearing the way for Syria’s army to retake the city. A week into the rebel withdrawal from the east of Syria’s second city, the evacuation of fighters and civilians from the one-time opposition stronghold …

  United Nations / AFP The UN General Assembly agreed to set up a panel to gather evidence on war crimes in Syria, taking a first step towards prosecuting those responsible for atrocities in the nearly six-year war. A resolution on establishing the investigative mechanism was adopted in the 193-nation assembly by a vote of 105 to 15, with 52 …

  Moscow/ AFP Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for the country to reinforce its military nuclear potential and praised the army’s performance in its Syria campaign. In a speech that recapped military activities in 2016, Putin said the army’s preparedness has “considerably increased” and called for continued improvement that would ensure it can “neutralise any military threat”. “We …