Beirut / AFP Turkish-backed rebels captured the emblematic northern Syrian town of Dabiq from the IS group on Sunday, dealing a major symbolic blow to the extremists. The defeat for IS came as US Secretary of State John Kerry was due to meet European allies in London as part of a new diplomatic push to end Syria’s conflict, which …

  Baghdad / AFP Iraqi aircraft dropped “tens of thousands” of leaflets, some bearing safety instructions for Mosul residents, ahead of an operation to retake the city from extremists, the military said. Iraq has dropped leaflets over Mosul before, and has also done so as part of operations to retake other cities seized by the IS group in 2014 and …

  Podgorica / AFP Montenegro said it had arrested 20 Serbs for planning to carry out attacks after voting wraps up in the Balkan nation’s tense parliamentary elections on Sunday. The attacks would have targeted the state and possibly “senior state officials”, Montenegro police chief Slavko Stojanovic said in a statement. The 20 were arrested on Saturday night and a 21st …