Qayyarah / AFP Iraqi forces were making gains as tens of thousands of fighters advanced on Mosul on Tuesday in an unprecedented offensive to retake the city from the IS group. With the crucial battle in its second day, Iraqi commanders said progress was being made as fighters pushed on two main fronts towards the city. The US military, which ...

  London / AFP Paramilitary groups and government forces in Iraq have tortured, arbitrarily detained and executed thousands of civilians escaping areas controlled by the IS group, Amnesty International warned Tuesday. The London-based rights group said the abuses, often revenge attacks directed at Sunnis suspected of being complicit with IS, must not be repeated as Iraqi forces advance on the jihadists’ ...

  Dhaka / AFP A Bangladeshi radical party allied to the opposition has elected a new chief untainted by war crime allegations, seeking to turn the page after the execution of several of its top leaders. Jamaat-e-Islami said in a statement late Monday it had sworn in former school teacher Maqbul Ahmed as its leader after a secret ballot of party ...

  Aden / AFP The United Nations has announced a new ceasefire in war-ravaged Yemen from early Thursday, after a week of escalated fighting sparked new international calls to end the conflict. While President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s government and its Saudi backers said they would support the truce, there has been no word from the Iran-backed rebels who control the ...

  Johannesburg / AFP South Africa’s government has descended into open warfare as a clash between President Jacob Zuma and his finance minister unveils rivalries that could tip the country into instability. The ruling African National Congress (ANC) party looks set for worsening strife as its divided leadership struggles with falling popular support, a weakening economy and violent student protests. Finance ...

  Paris / AFP Britain must fulfil its duties towards unaccompanied migrant children in the Calais “Jungle” camp, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in an article published on Tuesday, just a day after more than a dozen teenagers were transferred to the UK. “(The) French government has now decided to dismantle the Calais camp for good,” Cazeneuve said in ...

  Bloomberg & Reuters Officials from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, key protagonists in shaping OPEC policy, said oil at $50 to $60 a barrel would ensure adequate global supply, setting out a potential price band for the producer club before its meeting in Vienna next month. “A $50, $60 oil price — absent a supply accident — is sufficient to ...

  Reuters Iran’s October crude and condensate exports are set to hold near five-year highs hit in September, a source with knowledge of its preliminary tanker schedule said, reflecting Tehran’s success in boosting shipments after Western sanctions were lifted. The No. 3 OPEC producer is producing around 4.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude and ultra light oil condensate, ...

  Bloomberg Oil rose as the dollar weakened, edging back above the $50 level where prices have hovered since rallying on OPEC’s decision to cut output last month. West Texas Intermediate futures advanced 1 percent in New York, erasing Monday’s 0.8 percent slide. The dollar sank, increasing the appeal of commodities denominated in the currency, on speculation that a pick-up ...

  Bloomberg Egyptian Finance Minister Amr El Garhy said his country would gather an additional $6 billion in bilateral funding required to secure a $12 billion International Monetary Fund loan within one or two weeks. The IMF in August agreed in principle to grant Egypt a $12 billion, three-year loan facility to support a government reform programme aimed at plugging ...