Addis Ababa / AFP Ethiopia has banned access to foreign-based opposition media and restricted foreign diplomats’ travel, in new provisions of a state of emergency. The government declared the six-month state of emergency eight days ago, stepping up its response to an unprecedented wave of protests against its authoritarian rule which has left hundreds dead. New restrictions published in local …

  Dhaka / AFP Bangladesh said Monday it is fast-tracking trials of Islamist extremists, hours after a senior leader of a militant group was hanged for a 2005 blast that killed two judges. Asadul Islam, also known as Arif, was a senior leader of the banned group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which the government has blamed for a deadly siege on …

  Al-Shura / AFP Iraqi forces launched an offensive on Monday to retake Mosul and deal a death blow to the IS group’s “caliphate” in the city where it was declared two years ago. Some 30,000 federal forces are leading the offensive, backed by a 60-nation US-led coalition, in what is expected to be a long and difficult assault on …