Bloomberg One of the smallest parts of Standard Chartered Plc, the UK bank with operations sprawling across Asia and Africa, has become one of its biggest losers. Losses at the unit that houses the Standard Chartered Private Equity business, or SCPE, more than doubled to $650 million in 2016 as its investments lost value, the London-based bank said. The …

  WASHINGTON / AP A new military strategy to meet President Donald Trump’s demand to “obliterate” the IS group is likely to deepen US military involvement in Syria, possibly with more ground troops, even as the current US approach in Iraq appears to be working and will require fewer changes. Details are sketchy. But recommendations due at the White House …

  BAGHDAD / AP Iraqi federal police units pushed deeper into western Mosul on Monday, gaining control of a neighborhood along the Tigris River and the foot of one of the city’s five bridges amid intense clashes with IS militants, a senior Iraqi police commander said. According to Maj. Gen Thamir al-Hussaini, who commands the federal rapid response force, the …