Aleppo / AFP Syrian pro-government forces pushed forward inside rebel-held Aleppo on Tuesday, prompting civilians to flee, as the regime pressed an assault to recapture the entire city. A week into the latest round of fighting for the city, Syrian troops had taken control of a third of the key eastern neighbourhood of Masaken Hanano, the Syrian Observatory for Human ...

  Mosul / AFP The US-led coalition bombed a key bridge in Mosul on Tuesday to isolate extremists whose stiff resistance in the east of the city is threatening to bog down Iraqi forces. The number of civilians displaced since last month’s start of the offensive against Mosul—the IS group’s last stronghold in Iraq—rose to 68,000, but most of the ...

  Jerusalem / AFP A Palestinian was shot dead at a West Bank checkpoint on Tuesday after walking towards guards with a knife in his hand, Israeli police said. “A Palestinian attempted to cross the checkpoint using the vehicle lane and approached security guards brandishing a knife,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement. “The terrorist was neutralised,” she ...