Iraq

Iraq's Joint Operation Command did not give CNN any numbers Saturday, saying it was not obliged to publish casualty figures while the battle against ISIS was ongoing.

But it warned in a statement that "the dissemination of false and fabricated news" could help ISIS as the extremist group seeks to stop Iraqi forces retaking Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, and surrounding areas.

The more than 110,000 strong fighting group has been at the forefront of the fight against ISIS in Iraq.

Its role is critical but controversial with human rights groups, which allege the units have committed atrocities in the battlefield against the minority Sunni population.

The bill, officially passed Saturday, makes the units an independent entity of the Iraqi Armed Forces that answers directly to the Prime Minister. Under the new rules, the units will be overseen by the Popular Mobilization Unit Committees, or PMUC.

The intent is sinister: Using civilians as human shields is ISIS's attempt to hold onto the city, the jewel of its self-proclaimed caliphate.

No one expected the militants to surrender Mosul without a hellish fight. But for Iraqis still living under ISIS control in the city and surrounding areas, every option now is grim.

They can try to flee but be branded by ISIS as "apostates," for which the penalty is death. Or they can potentially be seen as ISIS sympathizers in a new place and risk becoming victims of revenge crimes.

But these efforts have been complicated in recent weeks by one of Washington's oldest allies in the region: Turkey.

The Turkish government is lashing out against factions currently battling ISIS. Ankara has been engaged in a very public war of words with the government in Iraq. At the same time, the Turkish military has been bombing US-backed Kurdish militants in Syria.

Part of this policy stems from Turkey's unenviable position, living alongside two of the bloodiest, most destabilizing conflicts the Middle East has seen in a generation.

Artillery began firing on the city early on Monday, in a long-awaited assault from Kurdish Peshmerga, Iraqi government and allied forces.

Tanks are now moving towards the city, which has been held by IS since 2014.

The UN has expressed "extreme concern" for the safety of up to 1.5 million people in the area.

The BBC's Orla Guerin, who is with Kurdish forces east of Mosul, says tanks are advancing on the city, kicking up clouds of dust.

A Kurdish defence official told Reuters news agency that the drone exploded when the Peshmerga tried to pick it up after it had crashed to the ground.

The incident happened on 2 October, north of the IS-held city of Mosul.

IS militants are said to have tried to use drones to launch attacks at least two other times in the past month.

She paused for a moment, looked around, then stepped gingerly down the other side, over a tangle of barbed wire. Three younger girls, Amal's cousins, giggled nervously as they watched her go.

Amal --"Hope" in Arabic -- was one of a group of about 50 people who fled to Daqouq, this Kurdish town on the plains south of Kirkuk, from their homes around the ISIS-controlled town of Hawija, 60 kilometers (37 miles) away.

They are among people fleeing from the villages around Hawija, often without a specific destination in mind.

The team of reporters, researchers and editors across CNN listened throughout the debate and selected key statements from both candidates, rating them true; mostly true; true, but misleading; false; or it's complicated.

Obamacare

Reality Check: Trump on Obamacare premiums

By Tami Luhby, CNNMoney

Trump cited Obamacare as one of the top problems he wants to address if he is elected president.

Security and defence analysts IHS say the group's control has shrunk by 28% since its height in January 2015.

In the first nine months of this year, IS' territory fell from 78,000 sq km (30,115 sq miles) to 65,500 sq km - an area equivalent to the size of Sri Lanka - IHS analysts said.

However, IS losses have slowed in the three months to October.

IS has lost just 2,800 sq km (1,080 sq miles) since July.

The slowdown appears to coincide with Russia reducing the number of air strikes against IS targets, IHS has observed.

No-one was hurt in Tuesday's attack on the Qayyarah air base near the IS stronghold of Mosul.

Marine Gen Joseph Dunford, chairman of US joint chiefs of staff, said the group's capability to deliver chemical weapons was rudimentary.

But the attack, he added, was a "concerning development".

IS has long been suspected of making and using crude chemical weapons in Iraq and Syria, where it also controls territory.

Gen Dunford told the US Senate armed services committee on Thursday that the rocket had contained a "sulphur-mustard blister agent".