The World in Brief

Pakistani Taliban replace slain chief

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan -- Pakistani Taliban militants chose a religious scholar as their new chief in place of Mullah Fazlullah, the insurgent leader who was killed earlier this month in a U.S. drone strike.

Mohammad Khurasani, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, said Saturday that the executive council of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan appointed Mufti Noor Wali Mahsud as its new chief and Mufti Mazhim, who's also known as Mufti Hafzullah, as his deputy.

Khurasani conceded for the first time that Fazlullah was killed in the drone attack in Afghanistan's Kunar province. He did not say when and where the executive council met to choose the new leader.

A ruthless leader, Fazlullah ordered the beheading of dozens of opponents when his band of insurgents controlled Pakistan's Swat Valley from 2007.

In contrast, the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban has a scholastic and literary background. Mahsud, 40, studied at a number of religious seminaries in Pakistan. He served as a deputy to Baitullah Mahsud, who has been blamed for the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Non-OPEC nations to lift output, too

VIENNA -- OPEC nations and oil-producing countries not in the cartel said Saturday that they have agreed to share increased oil production a day after OPEC announced it would pump more crude oil -- a move that should help contain the recent rise in global energy prices.

Russia and other oil-producing allies said after their meeting in Vienna with OPEC countries they would endorse a nominal output increase of 1 million barrels crude oil per day.

The cartel said in a statement that both member and nonmember oil producing countries "decided that countries will strive to adhere to the overall conformity level, voluntarily adjusted to 100 percent."

The statement did not say how exactly the production increase would be split between OPEC and non-OPEC nations.

Saud Arabia's minister of energy, Khalid Al-Falih, said after Saturday's meeting that the exact allocation for each country would depend on their production capacities, among other things.

ISIS video claims Iraqis are captives

BAGHDAD -- The Islamic State group released a hostage video Saturday demanding the release of all Sunni women prisoners from Iraqi jails.

The group, also known as ISIS, said it was giving the government a deadline of three days before it would execute the six men in the video, who identified themselves as Iraqi policemen and militiamen.

The video was published on jihadi social media, one week after the Islamic State group announced it had kidnapped 17 policemen and members of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, predominantly Shiite militia groups that fight for the government.

A spokesman for the Iraqi military said he was aware of the hostage video and said the armed forces were pursuing the Islamic State sleeper cell it believes is responsible.

A Section on 06/24/2018

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