Alva Review-Courier -

GENEVA (AP) — Fearing a military offensive, the U.N. envoy for Syria proposed Thursday that civilians holed up in the rebel-held region of Idlib could evacuate to government areas — a move that would send many back into parts of Syria they once fled in its 7-1/2-year-old civil war.

U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura expressed fears of a "perfect storm" that could have a devastating impact on nearly 3 million people — nearly half of whom arrived from elsewhere in Syria — in the region largely controlled by al-Qaida-linked fighters. It came as Russia, President Bashar Assad's strongest military backe...