A Syrian government delegation will meet officials in Moscow Monday to discuss preparations for an international peace conference that Russia, the United States and the United Nations are trying to convene.

French forces have “neutralised” several Al-Qaeda members in Mali’s troubled north, where the group claimed responsibility for the execution of two French journalists, the chief of defence staff in Paris said Thursday.

Russia is offering to sell Egypt modern helicopters and air defence systems in a landmark deal reportedly worth $2 billion that would mark a revival of large-scale military cooperation, a Russian official said Friday.