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Radical British preacher Anjem Choudary has been sentenced to life in prison for directing a terrorist group. Choudary, who was previously convicted of supporting the Islamic State group, was convicted last week of being a member of the radical Muslim group al-Muhajiroun, and for drumming up support for the group. Prosecutors say Choudary directed the group, which was outlawed by the British government in 2010 because it was involved in committing, preparing for or promoting terrorism. He testified that the group no longer existed and denied promoting it in lectures he gave to a group that was allegedly its New York branch.

Protests over skyrocketing power bills have shut down a major road into Pakistan’s capital as some 3,000 supporters of a major Islamist party continue a sit-in despite pouring monsoon rains. The protesters are demanding that the government withdraw taxes on electricity to offset price hikes. They have occupied a road in the garrison city of Rawalpindi since Friday. The government raised power prices 26% during the last fiscal year, before tacking on another 20% increase on July 13. In Pakistan’s southwest, meanwhile, thousands protested against police violence, an internet shutdown and highway closures. At least two people, including a soldier, were killed in the clashes.

The German government has banned an organization accused of being an “outpost” of Iran's theocracy, promoting the ideology of its leadership and supporting Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group. Police raided 53 properties around the country on Wednesday, including a prominent mosque in Hamburg. The ban of the Islamic Center Hamburg, or IZH, and five suborganizations followed searches in November. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser says evidence gathered in the investigation “confirmed the serious suspicions to such a degree that we ordered the ban today.” She says IZH promoted an extremist, totalitarian ideology while supporting Hezbollah and spreading aggressive antisemitism. The IZH has said it condemns violence and has always advocated peace, tolerance and interreligious dialogue.

The Iraqi government has announced an official ban on a Kurdish separatist group which has been engaged in a long-running conflict with Turkey. Turkey has been seeking greater cooperation from Baghdad in its fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a Kurdish separatist group that has waged an insurgency against Turkey since the 1980s and is banned there. The PKK has maintained bases in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region. In recent months, Turkey has built up its troops in northern Iraq and has threatened an offensive to clear PKK forces from the border area.

Radical British preacher Anjem Choudary has been convicted by a London jury of directing a terrorist group. Choudary, who was previously convicted of supporting the Islamic State group, was found guilty Tuesday of being a member in the radical Muslim group al-Muhajiroun, and for drumming up support for the group. Prosecutors say Choudary directed the group, which was outlawed by the British government in 2010 because it was involved in committing, preparing for or promoting terrorism. Choudary testified that the group no longer existed and denied promoting it in lectures he gave to a group that was allegedly its New York branch.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a surprise visit to troops in southern Gaza, days before his speech to the U.S. Congress. Netanyahu’s visit to Rafah was announced Thursday, just hours after Israel’s far-right national security minister visited Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site. That move threatens to disrupt sensitive talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire in the 9-month-old Israel-Hamas war. Israeli negotiators landed Wednesday in Cairo, where negotiators are working to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas. In recent weeks, Israel has stepped up strikes in central Gaza, where many Palestinians have fled to escape fighting in other parts of the beleaguered territory.

This week's attack on a Shiite mosque in the capital stunned Oman, a quiet nation long spared militant violence. It underscores how the Islamic State group has turned to a strategy of surprise, dramatic strikes outside its usual battlegrounds — a way to show its resilience and inspire new recruits, analysts say. The radical group was shattered by a U.S.-led coalition that broke its territorial hold in Iraq and Syria several years ago, though its fighters are working to rebuild there. Fragmented and decentralized, its affiliates in Yemen, Afghanistan and elsewhere are working on their own to expand, experts say.