BBC News with Jerry Smit. The Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov says the Syrian army has suspended military operations in eastern Aleppo to allow for the evacuation of thousands of civilians from the rebel-held area. He said Russian and American military experts will meet in Geneve on Saturday to discuss the situation in Aleppo. In response, the White House said it would adopt what it called a wait-and-see approach to the Russian proposals. A powerful earthquake measuring 7.7 has occurred off the coast of Solomon Islands in the Pacific ocean. There have been no immediate reports of any impact, but the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center warned that tsunami waves could occur in the region within the coming hours. The French newspaper Le Monde said that British intelligent services spied on leaders and rebel movements in 20 African countries. Le Monde says it has received the documents stating from between 2009 and 2010 passed on by the US fugitive former US intelligence worker Edward Snowden. It says those targeted include the Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and José Eduardo dos Santos, the President of Angola. There have been deadly clashes between police and members of Cameroon’s English-speaking minority in the northwestern city of Bamenda. Eyewitnesses said at least four civilians were killed in anti-government demonstrations. The Indian government says it will provide two digital sales machines for processing credit and debit card payments to a 100,000 villages with populations of less than 10,000 people. The move is one of a series of measures designed to boost cashless payments. Mick Jagger has become a father for the 8th time at the age of 73. The spokesman for the Rolling Stone front man said his partner, the American ballerina Melanie Hamrick who is 29, has given birth to a son in New York. BBC news.