Dubai / AFP A modest recovery in oil prices falls short of filling budgetary gaps in crude-exporting Gulf countries, the International Monetary Fund said, stressing the need to cut spending. The price of the region’s main commodity has partially rebounded and is hovering around $50 per barrel having hit a 10-year low of less than $30 in January, from …

  Qayyarah / AFP Iraqi forces prepared to retake the country’s largest Christian town from the IS group on Wednesday, a key milestone in their progress towards the extremists’ main hub of Mosul. News of the move to recapture Qaraqosh sparked jubilation among Christians who had fled the town, with many dancing and singing in the city of Arbil. Launched on …

  Moscow / AFP Russia has accused Belgium, a member of a US-led coalition fighting extremists in Syria, of killing six civilians in air strikes in the Aleppo region but the claim was swiftly denied by Brussels. “Six people were killed and four people injured to various degrees as a result of bombing that destroyed two homes” in the village of …