Russian and Syrian armed forces will pause attacks on the Syrian city of Aleppo for eight hours on Thursday to allow civilians and rebels to leave the city, the Russian defence ministry said on Monday.
Syrian and Russian warplanes carried out dozens of air strikes on rebel-held districts of Aleppo on Friday, a monitor said, as world powers prepared for new talks on a ceasefire.
Russian and Syrian warplanes pounded Aleppo again on Thursday after two days of heavy bombardment that killed more than 70 civilians, as world powers prepared for last-ditch weekend talks on a ceasefire.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday accused France of deliberately luring Moscow into vetoing a United Nations resolution on Syria and suggested it was doing the bidding of the United States.
Pope Francis appealed on Wednesday for an immediate ceasefire in Syria, calling for "at least" a truce enabling civilians, especially children, to be evacuated, after Aleppo came under fierce air assault.
Qatar salvaged some hope of reaching the 2018 World Cup finals with a narrow and desperately needed victory against Syria in a crucial Group A Asian qualifier on Tuesday.
Russian jets resumed heavy bombing of rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Tuesday after several days of relative calm, a rebel official and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.
Qatar coach Jorge Fossati insisted on Monday that the crucial World Cup qualifier against Syria was not his team's last chance to qualify for the 2018 finals in Russia.
Germany on Monday hailed three Syrians who helped police capture a compatriot suspected of planning a jihadist bomb attack, with social media coming alive with jibes against anti-migrant protesters.
A Syrian man who came to Germany during a migrant influx into the country last year was arrested on Monday after a weekend manhunt on suspicion of planning an Islamist bomb attack, Saxony state police said.
Thirty one Islamic State militants have been killed in clashes and US-led coalition air strikes in northern Syria over the last 24 hours, the Turkish military said on Sunday, marking an escalation in violence in the area
Syrian government forces and their allies recaptured several towns and villages from rebels in the west of the country on Saturday, monitors and pro-Damascus media reported, reversing rare gains made by the insurgents in recent weeks.
