Members of the Shiite Muslim Mehdi Army militia pray as they show their willingness to join the fight against militants led by the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Saturday, in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk. Iraqi security forces on announced they were holding their own in several areas north of Baghdad, but officials said insurgents led by ISIL seized one of three official border crossings with Syria. AFP PHOTO
PARIS: Escalating violence in Iraq is threatening the development of some of the world’s largest oil reserves at a time when the number-two producer of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was expected to be a key future supplier.