Geneva / AFP Global migrant deaths have topped 4,000 in the first seven months of this year, a 26-percent increase in the fatality rate compared with the same period of 2015, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday. The total of 4,027 migrant deaths this year includes those who perished crossing the Mediterranean as well as others who …

  Tripoli / AFP Forces loyal to Libya’s unity government have advanced inside the extremist stronghold of Sirte, they said on Tuesday, following the first US air strikes on IS group positions in the city. Fighters backing the Government of National Accord (GNA) seized the central district of Al-Dollar after clashes that killed five of their members and wounded 17, …

  Pretoria / AFP The Syrian regime’s key ally Russia launched heavy air strikes overnight on the outskirts of divided Aleppo city, slowing a “last-chance” assault by rebels seeking to break a government siege. The assault began on Sunday and is intended to ease the encirclement of the opposition-held east of Aleppo city, where an estimated 250,000 residents have been …