gain ground

The paramilitaries are gaining ground as they fight to seize complete control of el-Fasher - the last army stronghold in Darfur and home to more than 300,000 civilians who have been trapped by the fighting.

But it is also taking place a month before critical parliamentary elections in which the EU and the Moldovan government fear pro-Russian elements could gain ground.

However, the notion that some Ukrainian regions currently under Russian control may not return to Kyiv is gaining ground.

The wave of arrests, which reportedly went on overnight and are expected to continue, reflect increased tensions within the military government, with reports that a jihadist insurgency in the north is gaining ground.

But the once controversial theory has been gaining ground among some intelligence agencies - and the BND is the latest to entertain the theory.