Syria rebels reject Aleppo exit as army advances

ALEPPO, Syria: Russia said it would hold talks with Washington on Tuesday on a total rebel withdrawal from Syria’s Aleppo, where the army has made sweeping advances, but opposition factions have rejected any evacuation.

President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have seized two-thirds of the former rebel bastion in east Aleppo since they began an operation to recapture all of the battered second city in mid-November.