Beirut / AFP Internet cafes closed down, travel bans and new checkpoints: residents say extremists are trying to tighten their grip on power in Raqa as US-backed forces near the IS group’s Syrian bastion. A Kurdish-Arab alliance called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began an operation to recapture the northern city on November 5. Since then, residents say IS …

  Kabul / AFP A suicide bomber on foot struck a government vehicle in Kabul on Wednesday, killing at least six people and wounding 10 others, officials said, in an attack claimed by the IS group. The latest bombing to hit the Afghan capital came during the morning rush hour, as militants intensify nationwide attacks on the Western-backed government. “A suicide …

  Jerusalem / AFP The Israeli parliament gave initial approval on Wednesday to a bill to legalise thousands of West Bank settler homes, a measure drawing international anger and posing the government’s biggest test since 2015 polls. The measure, which would apply to an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 Jewish homes in the occupied West Bank, requires three more full parliamentary …