BEIRUT / AP The Russian Defense Ministry says a 48-hour cessation of hostilities has been declared in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. In past months, Aleppo has been witnessing fierce fighting and bombardment, which has claimed the lives of hundreds of people on both sides of the contested city. Russia says the truce went into effect after midnight …

  BAGHDAD / AP An aid organization says a two-year-old boy has been killed while fleeing Fallujah with his family amid a government offensive to retake the Iraqi city from the IS group. The Norwegian Refugee Council, which works with refugees and internally displaced Iraqis, cited a relative on Thursday as saying that an IS fighter shot the boy as …

  Lubumbashi / AFP Several people were killed in clashes between the army and former rebels at a military base in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, officials said. Tension had been mounting for days at the military base in Kamina, in the southeast, where more than 2,000 former rebels from various groups are stationed as part of a …

  Washington / AP CIA Director John Brennan will tell Congress that IS militants are training and attempting to deploy operatives for further attacks on the West and will rely more on guerrilla-style tactics to compensate for their territorial losses. In remarks prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee, Brennan says IS has been working to build an apparatus to direct and …

  Tehran / AFP Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards killed 12 Kurdish rebels near the Iraqi border in clashes in which three guards were also killed, an Iranian news agency reported on Thursday. Wednesday evening’s fighting took place in Oshnavieh in the northwest, the Tasnim news agency said, citing a statement from the Guards. Two separate groups of rebels had slipped …

  Kenya / AFP Eritrea claimed on Thursday to have killed “more than 200” Ethiopians in a battle last week, one of the fiercest border clashes since a 1998-2000 war, while giving no mention of its own casualties. Each side blames the other for starting the two-day battle which broke out on Sunday, saying also that their rival suffered the most …

  Taiwan / AFP An American man fatally stabbed himself with a pair of scissors in a Taiwan courtroom on Thursday during his sentencing on drug possession charges, raising questions over security failings. The man, named as 41-year-old Tyrel Martin Marhanka, is thought to have hidden the dismantled scissors inside a magazine to get past a metal detecting door, Changhua district …

  Sunaina Rana/ Emirates Business Established in 1999, Styro is a leading manufacturer and supplier of supreme quality fire retardant Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) products. Headquartered in the UAE, it has served many iconic projects in the MENA region. With highly durable, fire retardant and eco-friendly, Styro EPS products can be used for multitude applications, such as construction, interior and exterior …

  Our Correspondent EMIRATES BUSINESS NDIGITEC is an organisation which offers a value chain of services, structured to meet your demands competently. With over 500 customers spread across 25 countries and with skilled teams working around the clock, the company competent to deliver on the promises to its customers. NDIGITEC (Namma Int’l Digitec FZ LLC) roots can be traced back …

  WASHINGTON Brexit is winning — that is, Britain’s exit from the European Union. As the June 23 referendum approaches, public opinion has swung toward “Leave” the EU as opposed to “Remain” in the EU. This has fueled anxieties about the global economy and the fate of Europe. Brexit could compound economic pessimism, leading to a selloff in stock markets …