Day 2 Day

A plane carrying more than 80 people, including members of the Brazilian football team Chapecoense, has crashed in Colombia according to authorities.

Medellin international airport has confirmed that a charter aircraft was involved in a serious emergency on its way to the city.

It is not known at this moment whether there have been any casualties although it there were 72 passengers and nine crew on board.

Local media reported that the plane was carrying members of the football team Chapecoense from Brazil - a fact later confirmed by airport authorities.

The team was scheduled to play Copa Sudamerica finals against Atletico Nacional on Wednesday in Medellin.

The plane – a British Aerospace 146 short-haul plane – is believed to have started its journey in Sao Paulo, Brazil, at 3.35pm in the afternoon local time. It made a stop in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, a bustling economic hub in eastern Bolivia, later that day before setting off for Colombia.

Medellin’s mayor, Federico Gutierrez, said that it is possible there are survivors.

“It’s a tragedy of huge proportions,” Gutierrez told Blu Radio on his way to the site in a mountainous area outside the city where the chartered aircraft is believed to have crashed shortly before midnight local time.

He said ambulances and rescuers were on their way. It is not clear what caused the crash although it appear that the weather was bad in the area.

Chapecoense were on their way to play in the first leg of Copa Sudamericana final against Colombian side Atlético Nacional. The match was scheduled to be played in Medellin on 30 November, with the second leg back in Brazil on 7 December.

The team, based in the city of Chapecó in the state of Santa Catarina, play in Brazil’s top division, Serie A.

The club was founded in 1973 and first won promotion to the top flight in 2014 and have been there since.

As of Monday, when they fell to a 1-0 defeat away at Palmeiras, Chapecoense were ninth in the table after 37 games played in the 2016 season.

The Copa Sudamericana is the continent’s second tier club competition, one rung below the Copa Libertadores. The winner of the knockout tournament gains automatic entry into next season’s Copa Libertadores. 

About Girivalam: (14 km)
The circumambulation of Arunachala is known as Giri Pradakshina in Sanskrit and Giri Valam in Tamil. Performing pradakshina of Arunachala is considered to be beneficial in all ways. Typically, pradakshina is done in bare feet, with the Hill on the right. Sri Ramana Maharshi once explained the meaning of the word pradakshina and how it should be done by a devotee: "The letter "Pra" stands for removal of all kinds of sins; "da" stands for fulfilling the desires; "kshi" stands for freedom from future births; "na" stands for giving deliverance through jnana. If by way of Pradakshina you walk one step it gives happiness in this world, two steps, it gives happiness in heaven, three steps, it gives bliss of Satyaloka which can be attained. One should go round either in mouna (silence) or dhyana (meditation) or japa (repetition of Lord's name) or sankeertana (bhajan) and thereby think of God all the time.
Throughout the year, pilgrims engage in a practise called giri valam (circumambulation of Annamalaiyar temple and Annamalai hill 14 km in circumference), considered to be a simple and effective form of yoga. The circumambulation is started from the temple with barefoot and is considered a sacred act.The central government of India asked the Tamil Nadu government through the supreme court to direct the path of girivalam under the provision of the proposed Tamil Nadu Heritage Conservation Act. There are 8 small shrines of lingams located in the 14 km circumference of the hill, each one associated with the 12 moon signs. These are collectively termed as Ashtalingam (meaning 8 lingams) and is considered one of the rituals of worship during the girivalam (circumambulation of the hill).

What is Girivalam?
 This issue of AUMzine is dedicated to Arunachala and the great annual Deepam festival. In this issue and in past issues, we have mentioned that the single most effective spiritual practice known to man is the Arunachala giri valam (circling the Arunachala Hill). This article is an elementary introduction to the Siddha way of circling the Arunachala Hill. It contains material that the Siddhas of the Agasthiar lineage wish to reveal to first timers. More advanced practitioners should consult the Sathguru for procedures specifically tailored to them.
 Giri = Hill, Valam = circumambulation. Hence Giri Valam means circling the hill and Arunachala GiriValam means circling the Arunachala hill.

 Giri Pradakshina or Pradakshanam or parikrama mean exactly the same thing as giri valam - circling the hill.

Meditate on or chant constantly the mantra Arunachala Siva throughout the Giri Valam.

 You may sing bhajans or you may talk about totally spiritual topics like the ones discussed in this Website and in Sri Agasthia Vijayam.

 Please avoid talk of any other kind at least during GiriValam.

 Have some eatables handy so that you may distribute them to the poor and the needy on the way.

 Before you begin your girivalam, buy biscuits and the local porai to feed dogs and monkeys on the Girivalam path. Also bananas to offer to cows.

 Sathguru Venkataraman used to refer to dogs as Bhairava Vahana Moorthi, the vehicle of Lord Kala Bhairava. Feedings dogs during Arunachala GiriValam is not only part of our duty towards our animal brethren; it is also honoring Lord Kala Bhairava.

 How fast or how slow? Sathguru venkataraman used to say: "nirai maadha garbini pol" - walk like a woman in the 9th month of her pregnancy! One should walk that slowly and look at the peak of the Arunachala Hill with every step. That is the Siddha Way of doing Arunachala Girivalam.

 Make sure you do not wear footwear of any kind during the Giri Valam. This rule can not be relaxed; everyone must follow it without exception.

 Enjoy Arunachala's grace to the fullest measure! We are all His sons and daughters and He's waiting to shower His grace on us. The Giri Valam is the easiest way of getting His limitless grace.


Lingam                  Direction    Moon Sign Distance from the starting point
Indra Lingam           East   Vrishabha, Tula (Taurus, Libra) 50 m
Agni Lingam   South East   Simmam (Leo)         1.5 Km
Yama Lingam   South           Viruchigam (Scorpio)         3 Km
Niruthi Lingam    South West   Mesham (Aries)         6 KM
Varuna Lingam         West   Makaram, Kumbam (Capricorn, Aquarius)         8 KM
Vayu Lingam   North West   Kadagam (Cancer)         9.5 KM
Kubera Lingam         North           Dhanush, Meenam (Sagittarius, Pisces) 11 KM
Eesanya Lingam       North East   Mithunam, Kanni (Gemini, Virgo)                       13 Km

Several thousand people have demonstrated in a number of Indian cities against the government's ban on two major currency notes.
Earlier this month, the 500 and 1,000 rupee notes were banned overnight, causing chaos as people lined up at banks to exchange their old currency.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has defended the decision saying it was an anti-corruption measure.
But opposition parties say the move was mishandled.
Last week, they stalled parliament and demanded Mr Modi should apologise for the decision.
Correspondents say it is unclear how much public momentum a day of protests will generate as many Indians have supported the move, despite the inconvenience it has caused them.
Why India wiped out 86% of its cash overnight
How will India destroy 20 billion banknotes?
India's 'desperate housewives' scramble to change secret savings
India rupee ban: Currency move is 'bad economics'
Most opposition parties said they would participate in the so-called "day of rage".
But a number of important regional leaders - like the chief ministers of Bihar and Orissa - refused to back the protests, saying Mr Modi's attempts to curb corruption should be welcomed.
Protest rallies have been held in the cities of Lucknow, Kolkata and Bangalore.
The southern state of Kerala and the eastern state of Tripura, both ruled by the Communists, saw a near total shutdown.
'Monumental mismanagement'
"We are protesting against the undeclared financial emergency imposed by the government and the hardships people across the country are facing because of this illegal decision," Manish Tiwari of the Congress party told the AFP news agency.
"The decision to demonetise high-value currency was done without any authority and legislation and is clearly illegal."
About 90% of India's transactions are in cash and many people do not have a bank account. The two banned notes accounted for about 86% of the cash in circulation.
In his first national address since the government banned the notes, Mr Modi called on Sunday for people to embrace digital payments and use less cash.
Last week, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the government's move to ban the much-used banknotes was "monumental mismanagement", and that the country's gross domestic product would fall "by about 2%" because of the move.
Mr Modi announced that 500 and 1,000 rupee notes were no longer legal tender as part of a crackdown on corruption on 8 November.
There have been chaotic scenes in India ever since. People have spent hours queuing outside banks and cash machines which often run out of money.
In some instances the police have had to be called in to manage queues of anxious customers trying to access legal tender.

The government is facing a legal battle over whether the UK stays inside the single market after it has left the EU, the BBC has learned.
Lawyers say uncertainty over the UK's European Economic Area membership means ministers could be stopped from taking Britain out of the single market.
They will argue the UK will not leave the EEA automatically when it leaves the EU and Parliament should decide.
But the government said EEA membership ends when the UK leaves the EU.
What has actually happened since Brexit vote?
Brexit: The options
The single market allows the tariff-free movement of goods, services, money and people within the EU.
The EEA, set up in the 1990s, extends those benefits to some non-EU members like Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Non-EU members are outside the Common Agricultural Policy and customs union, but get barrier-free trade with the single market in return for paying into some EU budgets and accepting the free movement of workers.
If the courts back the legal challenge and give Parliament the final say over EEA membership, then MPs could vote to ensure that Britain stays in the single market until a long-term trading relationship with the EU has been agreed.
'Not automatic'
The pro-single market think tank British Influence is writing to Brexit Secretary David Davis to inform him that it will seek a formal judicial review of the government's position.
The group warned that if the government did not get a clear legal opinion it could potentially end up acting outside the law.
All EU member states are in the European Economic Area and it had been assumed that when Britain leaves the EU it would automatically leave the EEA as well.
But some lawyers argue that leaving the EEA would not be automatic and would happen only if Britain formally withdraws by triggering Article 127 of the EEA agreement.
The legal question is focused on whether the UK is a member of the EEA in its own right or because it is a member of the EU.
Is this good or bad news for the government?
If MPs do get to decide on Article 127, they could potentially overcome the government's small majority and keep Britain inside the single market after Brexit.
This would infuriate Brexiteers, but pro-EU campaigners say MPs would feel able to do this because people voted, they would argue, in the referendum to leave the EU and not the single market.
Paradoxically, though, the legal uncertainty over EEA membership could also end up being good news for the government.
If its negotiations with the EU went badly, and no deal looked likely, the UK could threaten to stay inside the EEA after Brexit. This would be politically hard for the government to sell as it would still involve EU workers moving freely within the UK. But it might be economically better than having to rely on World Trade Organisation rules which could involve high tariffs and barriers to trade.
The ability to stay on in the single market means Britain could force the EU into accepting a transitional period for the UK to avoid an economic cliff edge. This would be a useful stick for UK negotiators to have up as there appears to be no mechanism for the EEA to force out one of its members.
Professor George Yarrow, chairman of the Regulatory Policy Institute and emeritus professor at Hertford College, Oxford, said: "There is no provision in the EEA Agreement for UK membership to lapse if the UK withdraws from the EU.
"The only exit mechanism specified is Article 127, which would need to be triggered."
In other Brexit developments:
Campaigners are urging the government not to "cherry pick" different parts of the economy for special trade agreements with the EU after Brexit
Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, who is due to meet Theresa May in Downing Street later, wrote in the Daily Telegraph that she would be a constructive partner in Brexit negotiations but warned there would need to be compromise in the talks between the UK and EU
Eighty-one MPs and peers have signed a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk calling for a deal to protect the rights of both Britons living in other EU countries and EU nationals in the UK
At the the very least this latest challenge could mean a lengthy legal process - potentially via the European Court of Justice - that could delay Brexit negotiations.
If the courts say Article 127 does need to be triggered, there is the question of whether an act of parliament would be needed for it to be authorised.
'New wheeze'
The government is already fighting in the courts to stop MPs getting the final say over triggering the Article 50 process.
A government spokesman said: "As the UK is party to the EEA Agreement only in its capacity as an EU Member State, once we leave the European Union we will automatically cease to be a member of the EEA."
Conservative MP and Brexiteer Dominic Raab said: "Rather than coming up with new legal wheezes to try and frustrate the will of the people, these lawyers should be working with us to make a success of Brexit.
"The public have spoken; we should respect the result and get on with it, not try to find new hurdles that undermine the democratic process."

In his first radio broadcast after the demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged for a movement to turn India into a cashless society. He asked young people to teach mobile banking and other e-commerce technology to at least 10 families.

Mr. Modi termed the decision to demonetise tough and said that he had been aware of the difficulties regarding the decision. “I had even spoken about it in the speech that I gave on the day I announced the decision. I knew this was going to be tough, disturbing systems that have been in place for 70 years is never easy, but I am heartened by the support that I have received from the people. And, that support convinces me that we will be successful in overcoming the challenges posed by this decision,” he said.

‘A less-cash economy, if not a cashless one’

A major part of his address was to the young people of the country, who he asked to become the “soldiers of change” in turning India into a cashless economy or at least a “less-cash” one. “I need the help of young people in India, and they too should see that they have an invaluable opportunity to serve the motherland. There are many people in your families or neighbourhoods who may not know how to use technologies such as e-wallets and payments through mobiles. I urge you to spend some time, an hour or more, every single day, to teach this technology to at least 10 families who may not know it,” he said.

He thanked the people for what he termed “overwhelming support” for the move to demonetise the higher currency notes. He mentioned a bank officer from Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh who delivered cash at home to a person who had been injured in an accident, a couple in Surat — Bharat Maru and Daksha Parmar — who because of the cash crunch served only tea at their wedding but supported the demonetisation move. He also stated how 43 urban local bodies across the country had collected more than Rs. 13,000 crore in dues compared to only Rs 3,500 crore in the same period last year.

He urged daily wage workers to insist on payment of wages through banks. “This will end your exploitation where a certain amount is mentioned against your name in records but you end up getting much less in hand,” he said.

Mr. Modi also said that he was aware that people holding black money were trying to use accounts held by the poor to launder their cash, but urged them “not to implicate the poor in this wrongdoing.”

A major part of his speech was on the virtues of a cashless economy and digital transactions. Mr. Modi urged small traders to switch to digital payments, pointing out that the use of this kind of technology will help them compete better with bigger retail chains in malls. “My government has already passed laws wherein small shops can remain open 24/7 and compete with malls and big establishments,” he said.

On Monday, the Opposition is holding a countrywide protest over demonetisation and have been demanding Mr. Modi’s presence in Parliament for a debate on the issue.

India’s sugar production could decline by over 7 per cent to 23.26 million tonnes next marketing year starting October on a likely drop in sugarcane output due to poor rains in Maharasthra and Karnataka.

The sugar output is estimated to fall for the second straight year in 2016-17 marketing year (October-September) because of drought in major growing states.

Sugar production in India, the world’s second largest sugar producer after Brazil, is estimated to have fallen to 25.1 million tonnes in the current 2015-16 marketing year ending September from 28.3 million tonnes in the previous year.

Releasing the preliminary estimate, Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said sugar output was pegged at 23.26 million tonnes in 2016-17. “This is about 1.8-1.9 million tonnes less than the current 2015-16 production of around 25.1 million tonnes.”

Drought

This is in line with the government’s estimate of 23-23.5 million tonnes for the next year. ISMA attributed the likely fall in sugar output to 5.5 per cent decline in sugarcane acreage to 4.99 million hectare in 2016-17 as against 5.28 million hectare in the previous year.

This would result in lower cane output.

According to ISMA data, sugar production in Maharasthra — the biggest producing State — is estimated to decline to around 6.15 million tonnes in 2016-17 from 8.40 million tonnes in the current year.

“Maharashtra’s cane area has declined in 2016-17, which is mainly due to drought-like situation last year, poor rainfall and lesser water availability for irrigation,” ISMA said in a statement.

The cane area in the state is down at 7,80,000 hectare as against of 1.05 million hectare in 2015-16, it added.

Sugar production in Uttar Pradesh — the second largest sugar producing state — is estimated to rise to 7.54 million tonnes in 2016-17 marketing year from 6.82 million tonnes in the current year.

The first look of Gautham Menon’s next film with Dhanush, titled Ennai Nokki Paayum Thotta (‘Bullets that fly at me’) was unveiled on social media on Sunday.

The idea for the film was reportedly conceived in mid-2013, initially with actor Suriya in the lead. After discussions fell through, Menon proceeded with his bilingual romantic thriller Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada/Sahasame Swasaga Sagipo, with Silambarasan and Naga Chaitanya, which was released earlier this month.

Production on Ennai Noki... had started in March, with some teaser videos of the making of the film coming up on YouTube. The film stars newcomer Megha Akash opposite Dhanush and according to the first-look stills, is set for a Valentine’s Day release next year.

The film is produced by Gautham Menon’s home company, Ondraga Entertainment, and will be cinematographed by Jomon T. John (known primarily for his work in Malayalam cinema).

The greatest mystery, however, will be the music director, whose name Menon is keeping under wraps for now. Menon has so far worked with Harris Jayaraj, A.R. Rahman and Ilayaraaja. Rumours in cinema circles is that it will be Yuvan Shankar Raja this time 

Cuban leader Fidel Castro (1926-) established the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere after leading an overthrow of the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1959. He ruled over Cuba for nearly five decades, until handing off power to his younger brother Raúl in 2008. During that time, Castro’s regime was successful in reducing illiteracy, stamping out racism and improving public health care, but was widely criticized for stifling economic and political freedoms. Castro’s Cuba also had a highly antagonistic relationship with the United States–most notably resulting in the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The two nations officially normalized relations in July 2015, ending a trade embargo that had been in place since 1960, when U.S.-owned businesses in Cuba were nationalized without compensation.
FIDEL CASTRO: EARLY YEARS
Castro was born on August 13, 1926, in Birán, a small town in eastern Cuba. His father was a wealthy Spanish sugarcane farmer who first came to the island during the Cuban War of Independence (1895-1898); his mother was a domestic servant for his father’s family who bore him out of wedlock. After attending a couple of Jesuit schools–including the Colegio de Belén, where he excelled at baseball–Castro enrolled as a law student at the University of Havana. While there, he became interested in politics, joining the anti-corruption Orthodox Party and participating in an aborted coup attempt against the brutal Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo.
In 1950, Castro graduated from the University of Havana and opened a law office. Two years later, he ran for election to the Cuban House of Representatives. The election never happened, however, because Batista seized power that March. Castro responded by planning a popular uprising. “From that moment on, I had a clear idea of the struggle ahead,” he said in a 2006 “spoken autobiography.”

CASTRO’S REVOLUTION BEGINS
In July 1953, Castro led about 120 men in an attack on the Moncada army barracks in Santiago de Cuba. The assault failed, Castro was captured and sentenced to 15 years in prison, and many of his men were killed. The U.S.-backed Batista, looking to improve his authoritarian image, subsequently released Castro in 1955 as part of a general amnesty. Castro ended up in Mexico, where he met fellow revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara and plotted his return.

The following year, Castro and 81 other men sailed on the yacht “Granma” to the eastern coast of Cuba, where government forces immediately ambushed them. The estimated 18 survivors, including Castro, his brother Raúl and Guevara, fled deep into the Sierra Maestra Mountains in southeastern Cuba with virtually no weapons or supplies.

According to Castro, the revolutionaries started reorganizing with only two rifles,. But by early 1957 they were already attracting recruits and winning small battles against Rural Guard patrols. “We’d take out the men in front, attack the center, and then ambush the rear when it started retreating, in the terrain we’d chosen,” Castro said in his spoken autobiography. In 1958, Batista tried to snuff out the uprising with a massive offensive, complete with air force bombers and naval offshore units. The guerrillas held their ground, launched a counterattack and wrested control from Batista on January 1, 1959. Castro arrived in Havana a week later and soon took over as prime minister. At the same time, revolutionary tribunals began trying and executing members of the old regime for alleged war crimes.

CASTRO’S RULE
In 1960, Castro nationalized all U.S.-owned businesses, including oil refineries, factories and casinos. This prompted the United States to end diplomatic relations and impose a trade embargo that still stands today. Meanwhile, in April 1961, about 1,400 Cuban exiles trained and funded by the CIA landed near the Bay of Pigs with the intent of overthrowing Castro. Their plans ended in disaster, however, partially because a first wave of bombers missed their targets and a second air strike was called off. Ultimately, more than 100 exiles were killed and nearly everyone else was captured. In December 1962, Castro freed them in exchange for medical supplies and baby food worth about $52 million.

Castro publicly declared himself a Marxist-Leninist in late 1961. By that time, Cuba was becoming increasingly dependent on the Soviet Union for economic and military support. In October 1962, the United States discovered that nuclear missiles had been stationed there, just 90 miles from Florida, setting off fears of a World War III. After a 13-day standoff, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed to remove the nukes against the wishes of Castro, who was left out of the negotiations. In return, U.S. President John F. Kennedy publicly consented not to reinvade Cuba and privately consented to take American nuclear weapons out of Turkey.

CUBAN LIFE UNDER CASTRO
After taking power, Castro abolished legal discrimination, brought electricity to the countryside, provided for full employment and advanced the causes of education and health care, in part by building new schools and medical facilities. But he also closed down opposition newspapers, jailed thousands of political opponents and made no move toward elections. Moreover, he limited the amount of land a person could own, abolished private business and presided over housing and consumer goods shortages. With political and economic options so limited, hundreds of thousands of Cubans, including vast numbers of professionals and technicians, left Cuba, often for the United States.

From the 1960s to the 1980s, Castro supplied military and financial aid to various leftist guerilla movements in Latin America and Africa. Nonetheless, relations with many countries, with the notable exception of the United States, began to normalize. Cuba’s economy foundered when the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s and the United States expanded sanctions even further. Yet Castro, who by this time had switched his title from prime minister to president, found new trading partners and was able to cling to power until 2006, when he temporarily gave control of the government to Raúl after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery. Two years later, in 2008, he permanently resigned.

In 2015, U.S. and Cuban officials announced they had agreed to terms on the normalization of relations between the two nations, with mutual embassies and diplomatic missions opening in each country.

To ensure smooth traffic flow and mitigate currency hardships, the government has further extended the date for toll exemption on national highways till the midnight of December 2.

The government said Rs 500 notes will be accepted at toll plazas on national highways from December 2 midnight to December 15.

“For smooth traffic movement across all national highways, toll collection has now been suspended till midnight of December 2,” a road ministry official said.

Sufficient swipe machines will be installed at toll plazas with help from the SBI and other banks in order to make help commuters make payments and facilitate easy flow of traffic, the official said.

The government earlier announced its decision to keep the toll collection in abeyance till November 11 midnight and this was later extended to November 14, then to November 18 and later to November 24.

Instructions have been issued to all concessionaires, including BOT (build-operate-transfer), OMT (operate-maintain-transfer) operators and other fee collection agencies, about the extension of the toll suspension date.

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to tackle corruption and black money, the government, on November 9, said no toll fee would be collected on national highways till November 11 midnight.

The government’s earlier decision to accept the withdrawn notes at toll plazas led to chaos in the absence of adequate change, causing massive traffic snarls.

At least 70 people, mostly Iranians, have been killed after a truck bomb ripped through a petrol station south of Baghdad.

The blast struck in the village of Shomali near the city of Hilla, 75 miles southeast of the capital Baghdad, and wounded at least 45 people.

Officials said the target appeared to have been buses carrying Iranian pilgrims heading home after taking part in Arbaeen, a major Shia holiday in the holy city of Karbala.

Falah al-Radhi, head of the provincial security committee for Babylon, the province where the bombing happened, said several buses were targeted.

"A large truck exploded among them. It was a suicide attack," he said. "There are at least 70 dead, fewer than 10 are Iraqis, the rest are Iranians."

IS claimed it carried out the attack in a brief statement put out by its Aamaq news agency which said the bomb was in a truck.

Up to 20 million people visited Karbala this year, and according to the Iraqi authorities around three million of them were Iranians.

Iraq had sent around 25,000 members of the security forces in and around the shrine city to protect the pilgrims from a feared IS attack.

Iraqi forces are currently driving out militants from the northern city of Mosul.

A senior commander said troops had retaken three neighbourhoods, Amn, Qahira, and Green Apartment and were expanding their foothold in Zohour.

Over the past few days, Iraqi forces said they have cut off the main supply line running from Mosul to the western border with Syria, where IS still controls the city of Raqqa.

The Iraqi government started its campaign to liberate Mosul on 17 October, with troops backed by US-led coalition airstrikes.

Coalition spokesman Colonel John Dorrian said: "The Iraqi advance on the south and southeast of the city has started to pick up some steam, which we think is a really great development.

"It is extraordinarily tough fighting, just brutal, but there is an inevitability to it. The Iraqis are going to beat them."

Mosul was captured by IS in 2014 and is the last major urban centre still held by the extremist group in Iraq.