The leader of ISIL Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has expressed confidence in victory in his first message after Iraqi forces started an offensive to retake Mosul from the jihadists.
Polling stations have opened in the largest US battleground state of Florida, amid a tight race there between White House hopefuls Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Leaflets dropped over rebel-held parts of the Syrian city of Aleppo urged people to take their chance to get out, as a so-called ‘humanitarian pause’ in air strikes formally came into effect on Thursday.