Millions at risk in besieged Syrian city, UN says

Two million people in the contested Syrian city of Aleppo lack access to running water because of escalated fighting, the United Nations said Tuesday, beseeching all combatants to declare a humanitarian pause to permit emergency deliveries of aid and to fix damaged pumps.

The fighting in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city before the civil war that began more than five years ago, escalated sharply over the weekend, when rebel forces and their jihadi allies challenged the government’s siege of insurgent-held districts.

The crisis worsened as the U.N. Security Council was briefed privately by the special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, and the top humanitarian aid official, Stephen O’Brien.