With the Islamic State group crumbling in Iraq and Syria, Afghanistan mired in crisis and Russia looming large, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has plenty of pressing issues to tackle with NATO allies this week. The Pentagon chief arrives at the alliance s Brussels headquarters Wednesday for two days of talks with fellow NATO defence ministers and a separate meeting with partners from the coalition fighting IS group in the Middle East, where the jihadists continue to lose territory.

Pro-government media say Syrian troops and allied fighters have completely encircled the last Islamic State-held town. Al-Manar TV, the media arm of the Lebanese Hezbollah group, said Wednesday that troops have surrounded the eastern town of Boukamal, on the border with Iraq. The Central Military Media Center, an outlet affiliated with the Syrian military, said Syrian troops and allied fighters have begun entering the town. There was no immediate independent confirmation.

Russia opposes a draft U.N. resolution to extend the mandate of an international inquiry into chemical weapons attacks in Syria, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday. Ryabkov s comments came hours after Russia rejected a report by the international inquiry blaming the Syrian government for a deadly toxic gas attack, casting doubt on the U.N. Security Council s ability to extend the investigation s mandate before it expires next week.

Egypt s Court of Cassation overturned on Tuesday death sentences and ordered a retrial for four defendants accused of belonging to a terrorist cell in Tanta and Alexandria. The court also overturned 10 to 15-year prison sentences for eight other defendants in the same case.

The Grand Imam of al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayeb met with the Pope Francis of the Catholic Church in the Vatican on Tuesday to follow up on the mutual efforts for peace building that were discussed during the conference for World Peace organized by al-Azhar in April. During his visit to Italy, Tayeb is scheduled to meet Italian Prime Minster Paolo Gentiloni, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Angelino Alfano and speaker of the Italian Senate Pietro Grasso to discuss ways of spreading a culture of coexistence and peace and to renounce violence, hatred and Islamophobia.

The man who killed at least 26 people in a Baptist church in a rural Texas town on Sunday died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt told CBS News in an interview on Monday morning. Tackitt said gunfire was exchanged between the gunman and two armed citizens during a vehicle chase after the shootings.

Egypt has condemned a shooting incident in a Texas church on Sunday that left at least 26 dead and 20 more wounded. The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on Sunday evening extending Egypt s condolences to the US government and the victims families.

The Islamic State group claimed a major attack Sunday on Yemen s government bastion of Aden, which left eight police officers dead and sparked a hostage crisis that continued well into the day. The claim of the suicide attack on the security forces in the southern port city was made online by the extremist group s Aden and Abyan Wilayah, which said "clashes are still ongoing".

At least 20 people have been killed in a church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, according to Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt. Many more have been injured, authorities said Sunday.

Egypt s security forces killed five terrorists on Thursday who were attempting to attack a checkpoint in the border North Sinai region, where the military is fighting an Islamist insurgency, the military said in a statement. A group of "armed terrorist elements" opened fire at security forces stationed at the checkpoint, who returned fire, forcing the gunmen to flee and hide.

Egypt s Armed Forces announced on Wednesday that the joint military-police operation targeting terrorist hideouts in the Western Desert continued for the second day in a row, the Egyptian army said in a statement on Wednesday.

Egypt s Armed Forces announced on Wednesday that the joint military-police operation targeting terrorist hideouts in the Western Desert continued for the second day in a row, the Egyptian army said in a statement on Wednesday. The Egyptian air forces - supported by special army commandoes units (Sae ka) and police - carried out airstrikes in southern Fayoum, killing all terrorist targets.

Egypt has condemned a terrorist attack in New York City which saw eight people killed on Tuesday when a man in a rented truck drove into a busy bicycle path. In a statement released by the foreign ministry, Egypt expressed its sincere condolences to the families of the victims as well to the US government and the American people, wishing a speedy recovery for the injured.

Egyptian security forces freed on Tuesday a police officer who was kidnapped during the deadly shootout earlier this month between policemen and terrorists in Egypt’s Western Desert, state-owned news agency MENA reported. A security source told MENA that police officer Mohamed El-Hayes was freed in a morning operation.

Egypt’s air force on Monday carried out airstrikes on the hiding places of militants responsible for the El-Wahat El-Baheria attack that left at least 16 policemen dead, according to a statement released by the army’s official spokesperson. According to the statement, the airstrikes targeted the position of the militants in a mountainous area to the west of the Fayoum governorate close to El-Wahat road.

The US State Department published their annual international religious report on the conditions of religious freedom in nearly 200 countries worldwide. According to the report, religious minorities in Egypt still face extreme terrorist threats and sectarian violence. The report points out that the Egyptian government still refuses to recognize religions, namely Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons and the Baha’is despite the Egyptian constitution of 2014, which states Egyptians are free to follow and exercise any religion.

The bodies of 36 people shot dead have been found near Benghazi, in eastern Libya, a security official said Sunday. The bodies, found in Al-Abyar, around 70 kilometres (45 miles) east of Benghazi, were of suspected Islamist militants including 19 foreigners, the official said.

Somali security forces have ended a night-long siege by at a Mogadishu hotel by five extremist attackers who stormed the building after a suicide car bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the entrance gate on Saturday afternoon. The attack killed 23 people.

Heavy clashes between Syria s army and the Islamic State group in Deir Ezzor city have killed at least 73 fighters in the last 24 hours, a monitor said Sunday. Syria s army controls most of Deir Ezzor city, capital of Deir Ezzor province in the country s east, and made further advances after responding to an IS group attack that began Saturday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

The Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo has proposed a new law to the Egyptian Parliament which would fine and potentially jail journalists if they use colloquial language instead of formal Arabic in their published materials. The academy, which was established in 1934 in Zamalek for the preservation and modernization of the Arabic language, conducts linguistic research and regularly publishes updated Arabic dictionaries.

Six alleged terrorists were killed in a military operation in North Sinai on Monday amid the ongoing military operations fighting terrorism, Military Spokesperson Tamer Al-Refaie said in a statement. In a statement, Al-Refaie said that the second field army forces received intelligence information that there is a terror den. Forces destroyed the den and preserved a huge amount of arms and ammunition.