Politics

  Aleppo /AFP Syria’s rebels lost all the northern neighbourhoods of their stronghold in east Aleppo on Monday, as the army made significant advances in its offensive to recapture the entire city. The regime’s gains have prompted an exodus of desperate civilians, most fleeing to districts held by the government or Kurdish forces, others heading south into areas still under …

  Tel aviv / AFP Israel’s air force targeted gunman linked to the IS group in Syria overnight, the army said on Monday, after they fired on an Israeli soldier in the occupied Golan Heights. “Overnight the (Israeli air force) targeted an abandoned UN building that has been used by the IS as an operations centre along the border in the …

  Ankara / AP The UN’s expert on torture was on Monday beginning a week-long visit to Turkey following claims prisoners have been ill-treated in the wake of the July failed coup. Nils Melzer, special rapporteur on torture, arrived in Turkey on Sunday and will speak with alleged victims and inspect detention facilities, the United Nations in Ankara said. His visit, …

  Bartalla / AFP An Iraqi officer shuffled through identity cards as he sat at a battered desk by the side of the dust-blown highway heading east from the city of Mosul. Six men in dirt-spattered tracksuits huddled nearby, waiting on a concrete slab, part of the latest convoy of civilians to flee fighting as government forces try to oust IS …

  Imamnazar /AFP Asian neighbours Turkmenistan and Afghanistan on Monday opened the first section of a $2 billion link connecting their two countries by rail for the first time and set to extend to Tajikistan. Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani attended the colourful celebrations featuring Turkmen traditional dancers. A train pulling 46 freight cars completed …

  Kolkata / AP Tens of thousands of people turned out on Monday for nationwide protests against India’s controversial ban on high-value banknotes, which opposition party organisers say has caused a “financial emergency”. India is still reeling from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s shock decision nearly three weeks ago to pull 86 percent of the currency from circulation overnight, triggering a chronic …

  Dhaka /AFP Multiple boats packed with Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar were turned back by Bangladesh border guards on Monday, despite appeals by the country’s opposition to provide shelter to the persecuted Muslim minority. Thousands of desperate Rohingya from Myanmar’s western Rakhine state have flooded over the border into Bangladesh in the last week, bringing with them horrifying …

  Aleppo /AFP Hundreds of civilians have fled rebel-held east Aleppo after government forces, determined to retake all of Syria’s second city, seized its largest opposition-controlled district. The capture on Saturday of Masaken Hanano—which had been the biggest rebel-held district of Aleppo—was a major breakthrough in a 13-day regime offensive to retake the entire city. The fighting moved to two …

  Istanbul / AP Twenty-two pro-Ankara Syrian rebels were hit by an IS gas attack in northern Syria, the Turkish army said Sunday, the first time Turkey has accused the extremists of chemical warfare. Observers, including the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), have previously accused IS of using mustard gas in Syria and described the possibility as extremely …

  Muscat / AP The UN envoy for Yemen announced a new bid for peace talks between the government and rebels, after the latest ceasefire failed to bring an end the 20-month conflict. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said he was heading to Riyadh and Kuwait “to prepare for a new round” of talks, as he left Muscat late Saturday after discussions …