Forces loyal to Libya’s unity government yesterday freed 13 foreigners held by the Islamic State group in its former coastal bastion of Sirte, the forces said.

Heavy clashes between regime and rebel forces erupted in several areas of Syria’s divided city of Aleppo late yesterday after a unilateral ceasefire announced by government ally Russia expired.

A senior Egyptian military official was shot dead on Saturday outside his home on the outskirts of Cairo, security sources and his wife said

An Egyptian court confirmed a 20-year prison sentence against former president Mohamed Mursi on Saturday, judicial sources told Reuters.

Forces loyal to Libya's unity government on Saturday freed 13 foreigners held by the Islamic State group in its former coastal bastion of Sirte, the forces said.

Nearly 1,000 people have been treated for breathing problems linked to toxic gases from a sulphur plant which Islamic State militants are suspected to have set on fire near the city of Mosul, hospital sources said on Saturday.

Bahrain will auction the confiscated assets of the main opposition in the Gulf kingdom after it was dissolved over terrorism-related charges, a judicial source said Saturday.

The Iraqi army launched an operation on Saturday to take Qaraqosh, a Christian town near Mosul, the last major city stronghold of Islamic State in Iraq, the military said.

Political analyst and internationally syndicated journalist Rami Khouri, who is also a member of Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q)’s advisory board, has visited NU-Q and held several forums with students, faculty and staff.

Islamic State launched a major attack on the city of Kirkuk yesterday as Iraqi and Kurdish forces pursued operations to seize territory around Mosul in preparation for an offensive on the jihadists’ last major stronghold in Iraq.

A jihadist sniper killed an Iraqi journalist in Kirkuk Friday during clashes between the security forces and groups of fighters from the Islamic State group, the police and his channel said.

The United Nations hopes to carry out the first medical evacuations from Aleppo on Friday, if a ‘humanitarian pause’ in the Syrian army's Russian-backed assault on the city holds.