Fighting appeared to stop across most areas of western Syria on Saturday after a landmark “cessation of hostilities” came into effect under a U.S.-Russian plan which warring sides in the five-year conflict have accepted. The temporary halt in fighting marked the first time world powers have been able to negotiate a pause in Syria’s civil war and the United Nations hopes it can lead to a new round of talks to end the conflict. A monitoring group and the United Nations reported only isolated fire in western Syria after the temporary ceasefire began at midnight on Saturday (1700 ET Friday). “Let’s pray that this works because frankly this is the best opportunity we can imagine the Syrian people has had for the last five years in order to see something better and hopefully something related […]