WORLD NEWS SCHEDULE AT 1800 GMT/2 PM ET

08/27/2016 14:00

Editor: Andrew Roche + 44 207 542 7923

Picture Desk: Singapore + 65 6870 3775

Graphics queries: + 65 6870 3595

(All times GMT/ET)

TOP STORIES

Turkey ratchets up Syria offensive

KARKAMIS, Turkey - Rebels supported by Turkey fight Kurdish-backed forces in north Syria, and Ankara ratchets up its cross-border offensive, saying it has launched air strikes on Kurdish forces and Islamic State. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-VILLAGE (UPDATE 5, PIX, TV), moved, by Umit Bektas, 610 words)

Italy grieves as state funeral is held for quake victims

ASCOLI PICENO, Italy - Weeping relatives hug each other and reach out to touch the simple wooden coffins at a state funeral for some of the 291 people killed in this week's earthquake. (ITALY-QUAKE/ (UPDATE 3, PIX, TV), moved, by Iona Serrapica and Gabriele Pileri, 780 words)

Japan pledges $30 billion for Africa over next three years

NAIROBI - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tells African leaders that his country will commit $30 billion in public and private support for infrastructure development, education and healthcare expansion in the continent. (AFRICA-JAPAN/ (UPDATE 2, PIX, TV), moved, by George Obulutsa, 450 words)

MIDDLE EAST/ASIA

Iraq plans to sell oil through Iran if talks with Kurds fail

BAGHDAD - Iraq's government will consider selling crude through Iran should talks with the autonomous Kurdish region on an oil revenue-sharing agreement fail, a senior oil ministry official in Baghdad tells Reuters. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/IRAQ-OIL (EXCLUSIVE), moved, by Stephen Kalin, 720 words)

Iraq still set on expanding oil output to gain market share

BAGHDAD - Iraq is willing to play an active role within OPEC to support oil prices but will not sacrifice its goal of expanding market share and will continue to ramp up output, its oil minister says. (IRAQ-OPEC/ (UPDATE 2), moved, 460 words)

U.S., Russia fail to close deal on ending violence in Syria

GENEVA - The United States and Russia fail to reach a breakthrough deal on military cooperation and nationwide cessation of hostilities in Syria, saying they still have issues to resolve before an agreement can be announced. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/KERRY-LAVROV (UPDATE 4, TV, PIX), moved, by Lesley Wroughton and Stephanie Nebehay, 534 words)

Taliban fighters overrun district in eastern Afghanistan

GARDEZ, Afghanistan - Taliban insurgents overrun a district in eastern Afghanistan, killing and wounding dozens of police and soldiers and threatening strategically important road routes to Pakistan, officials say. (AFGHANISTAN-TALIBAN/, moved, 350 words)

Bangladesh security forces kill "mastermind" of cafe attack

DHAKA - Bangladesh security forces kill three Islamist militants, including a Bangladesh-born Canadian citizen accused of masterminding an attack on a cafe in Dhaka last month that killed 22 people, police say. (BANGLADESH-MILITANTS/ (UPDATE 3), moved, by Serajul Quadir, 540 words)

Death penalty fails to deter drug trafficking in Iran -official

DUBAI - The death penalty has failed to reduce drug trafficking in Iran, a senior Iranian judiciary official says shortly before the scheduled execution of 12 people for narcotics-related offenses. (IRAN-RIGHTS/EXECUTIONS (PIX), moved, 410 words)

EUROPE

Fire kills 17 Kyrgyz nationals in Moscow printing plant

MOSCOW - A fire in a Moscow printing plant has killed 17 people, officials say, and a representative of the Kyrgyz diaspora in Russia says all the dead were members of its community. (RUSSIA-WAREHOUSE/FIRE (UPDATE 1, TV, PIX), moved, 169 words)

German rightists scale Brandenburg Gate to protest immigration

BERLIN - Members of the far-right Identitarian Movement scale Berlin's Brandenburg Gate and unfurl a banner to protest against the "Islamisation" of Germany via mass immigration. (EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GERMANY-FARRIGHT (TV, PIX), moved, 218 words)

AFRICA

Bongo aims to prolong 50-year family rule in Gabon election

LIBREVILLE - Gabon votes amid discontent over its failure to raise living standards despite oil wealth, posing the biggest challenge yet to President Ali Bongo, whose family has dominated the central African nation for half a century (GABON-ELECTION/ (UPDATE 2), PIX, TV, expect by 1900 GMT/3 PM ET, by Gerauds Wilfried Obangome, 730 words)

Gupta family says plans to sell South African holdings

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's wealthy Gupta family, accused of holding undue political sway over President Jacob Zuma, says it plans to dispose of all stakes it holds in South African businesses before the end of the year. (SAFRICA-GUPTAS (UPDATE 3), moved, by Ed Stoddard, 570 words)

Tunisia's new government wins parliamentary approval, eyes austerity

TUNIS - Tunisia's new government wins a confidence vote after Prime Minister Youssef Chahed warns in parliament an austerity program will be inevitable with thousands of public-sector job cuts and new taxes if Tunisia does not overcome its economic difficulties. (TUNISIA-POLITICS/PREMIER (UPDATE 3, PIX), moved, by Tarek Amara, 461 words)

UNITED STATES

Clinton attacks Trump's outreach to black voters in new ad

WASHINGTON - Democrat Hillary Clinton calls for voters to reject what she calls the "bigotry" of Donald Trump's White House campaign, issuing a television ad criticizing his efforts to appeal to black voters and saying she is reaching out to people from all parties who are troubled by his candidacy. (USA-ELECTION/ (UPDATE 1, PIX, TV, GRAPHIC), moved, by Emily Stephenson, 647 words)

+ See also:

- USA-ELECTION/POLL (POLL, PIX), moved, by Chris Kahn, 399 words

WIDER IMAGE

Searching for history along the Thames

LONDON - A torch on his head, Jason Sandy scours nighttime London foreshores of the Thames River, searching for objects that could offer a glimpse of life in the British capital hundreds of years ago. (BRITAIN-MUDLARKS/ (PIX, WIDER IMAGE), moved, 429 words)

08/27/2016 14:00