More than 20 people were killed in separate bomb attacks in Afghanistan on Monday, including at least 14 when a suicide bomber struck a minibus carrying Nepalese security contractors in the Afghan capital, officials said.

Libya's UN-backed unity government condemned an attack by a newly-formed militia group on eastern military forces close to key oil facilities, as clashes resumed on Sunday for a second day.

Somalia's al Shebab militants killed five police officers in a border region in northeastern Kenya on Monday, a regional official said.

After the Cairo Court sentenced former president Mohamed Morsi to life imprisonment on Saturday, Qatar and Egypt have exchanged strongly worded statements, with the Qatari government condemning the Egyptian Judiciary's version of Qatar's involvement in the case and calling into question the judiciary's integrity.

Egypt's foreign ministry slammed Sunday the reaction of its Qatari counterpart to the court verdict against former president Mohamed Morsi in what is known as the Qatar espionage case.

Cairo Criminal Court has sentenced former President Mohamed Morsy to life in prison for spying for Qatar, along with the head of his presidential office Ahmed Abdel Aaty and personal secretary Amin al-Serafy.

The Islamic State (IS) group tried Sunday to break a siege on their last holdouts in Sirte but were pushed back by fighters allied to Libya's unity government, a spokesman said.

Donald Trump says the country should "seriously" consider profiling Muslims in the United States as a terrorism-fighting tool.

Despite suffering major losses in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State group can still conduct and inspire attacks across the globe, America's spy chief warned senior lawmakers Thursday. John Brennan, the director of the CIA, testified before the US Senate Intelligence Committee amid renewed fears about IS and the threat of terror attacks, after a gunman slaughtered 49 people in a Florida gay nightclub.

Egypt's Interior Ministry says four masked gunmen have stormed a house in the North Sinai city of Arish and shot dead two policemen inside.

Once Islamic State is defeated, Iraq should be divided into three separate entities to prevent further sectarian bloodshed, with a state each given to Shi'ite Muslims, Sunnis and Kurds, a top Kurdish official said on Thursday.

Two police officers were killed in Al-Arish, North Sinai, in the early hours of Thursday morning, said the Interior Ministry in an official statement. The officers were killed inside their homes, which are located in the Masaeed district near an Arish police station. Four anonymous gunmen attacked with open fire on their homes, according to the ministry.

CIA Director John Brennan will tell Congress on Thursday that Islamic State militants are training and attempting to deploy operatives for further attacks on the West and will rely more on guerrilla-style tactics to compensate for their territorial losses.

Prosecution authorities have extended by 15 days the detention of prominent lawyer Malek Adly , said defence lawyer Zyad El-Elaimy.

Belgian police have received an anti-terror alert warning that a group of Islamic State fighters recently left Syria en route for Europe planning attacks in Belgium and France, a security source said on Wednesday.

The Syrian government said on Wednesday that German special forces were present, alongside French and American military personnel, in northern Syria, an accusation denied by Germany.

US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Russia and the Syrian government on Wednesday to respect a "frayed" ceasefire, as vicious fighting south of second city Aleppo left dozens dead.

Ten Islamic State militants were killed in northern Syria by coalition air strikes and cross-border artillery fire from Turkey, military sources said on Wednesday.

HG Bishop Angaelos gives Keynote Address on the persecution of Christians in the Middle East to over 700 MPs and other guests in the Houses of Parliament, later addressing 50 High Commissioners and Ambassadors in the State Rooms at the Palace of Westminster

Bahrain suspended the tiny island kingdom's largest Shia political group and froze its assets on Tuesday as part of a widening crackdown on activists and dissent five years after the country's Arab Spring protests.

More than 80 Bosnian children are in Islamic State-held territory in Syria and Iraq and represent a "time bomb" that could pose a major security risk when they return, a study said on Monday.