Aleppo

A U.N. commission accuses Russian-backed Syrian forces and rebel factions of war crimes in Aleppo. Civilians "were increasingly left vulnerable to repeated violations by all sides," the report says.

Evacuations of civilians and rebel fighters from east Aleppo finished on Thursday night, and forces supporting President Bashar Assad seized the enclave. But the rebels' surrender doesn't mean peace.

Remaining rebels and civilians in east Aleppo wait in freezing weather for transportation out of the city; a few hundred people refuse to leave. Pro-regime forces might enter as soon as this evening.

Multiple cease-fires have failed and evacuation efforts halted in the dwindling rebel-held enclave in Aleppo, partly over disputes about two regime-friendly villages. Now buses are moving again.

Evacuations had been set to resume Sunday as the U.N. Security Council prepares to vote on a resolution that calls for sending international monitors to the besieged city.

The Syrian leader is in his strongest position in years. He can claim control of the biggest cities, but the rebels are still a threat in the countryside and the Islamic State holds eastern Syria.

Reports from inside east Aleppo described indiscriminate killing and scenes of horror and despair. Now a cease-fire has taken hold, and there's hope evacuation might be possible.

They are haunting images: rubble-filled streets and entire blocks of ghostly facades. The United Nations says about 250,000 civilians are trapped in rebel-held eastern Aleppo.

It used to be the most populous city and the business capital of Syria. Now it's a symbol of urban devastation that's the focus of the country's five-year-old war.

The largest hospital in the rebel-held portion of the northern city, which had already suffered a strike earlier this week, was hit again by at least two barrel bombs Saturday, an aid agency says.