Evacuation of rebels from Damascus on hold

The expected evacuation of thousands of rebels from in and around Yarmouk refugee camp in southern Damascus has been put on hold. The UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said Saturday that he has set a Jan. 25 target date for the talks for ending the war in Geneva and developments on the ground "should not be allowed to derail it."

The Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces said their fighters, backed by coalition air strikes, had seized the Tishrin dam north of the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa. This would interfere with the jihadists’ supply line across the Euphrates river.