The US is weighing potential military options in Libya as Islamic State jihadists expand their influence in the north African nation roiled by political instability, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.

An Afghan policeman, suspected of collaborating with insurgents, drug and then shoot dead 10 of his colleagues in the southern province of Uruzgan, officials say.

Syria's leading opposition coalition is to decide today whether to attend peace talks in Geneva, following a tense meeting with US

In 2011, activist Esraa Abdel-Fattah helped ignite revolution on the streets of Egypt and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Five years after the fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, she is shunned or insulted by Egyptians on those same streets.

Pro-government forces overran the last major rebel-held town in Syria's coastal Latakia province yesterday, as the United Nations

Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid yesterday pleaded for people to be "patient" after a wave of protests against poverty and

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani yesterday hailed a "new chapter" in relations with China after talks with President Xi Jinping, who is

Oil facilities in northern Libya were set ablaze Thursday as the Islamic State group launched fresh attacks to seize key export terminals, renewing concerns over the jihadists' growing influence.

Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday signed a slew of trade deals with Egypt's leader as part of a regional tour aimed at bolstering Beijing's economic ties and clout in the Middle East.

Gunmen have killed five Egyptian policemen at a checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula, the interior ministry said yesterday, in the latest attack claimed by the

The United Nations has said it was waiting for regional powers spearheading the Syria peace process to agree on who will take part in

The UN says the violence suffered by civilians in Iraq "remains staggering", with at least 18,800 killed between 1 January 2014 and 31

A Libyan unity government was formed yesterday under a UN-brokered deal aimed at ending years of bloodshed, but it was unclear

Israeli forces yesterday hunted for a Palestinian suspect accused of breaking into a West Bank home and stabbing a Jewish woman to

The lifting of crippling international sanctions linked to Iran's nuclear program and the flurry of diplomacy that led to the release of

Iran says new US curbs on the Islamic Republic's ballistic missile programme were illegitimate, vowing to continue developing its conventional military deterrent.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said yesterday that the official implementation of the landmark deal reached between Tehran and six

Israeli troops killed two knife-wielding Palestinian assailants in the occupied West Bank yesterday, the army said, the latest in a months-long spate of street violence that Israel's defence minister described as declining.

Members of the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State will meet in Paris next week to reinforce efforts against the group, France's defence minister said on Thursday, adding that the militants were clearly retreating in Iraq.

With the war in Syria headed for a sixth year, UN agencies on Tuesday appealed for $7.73 billion in funding to help 22.5 million people affected by the conflict.