US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday he was “confident” Egypt will receive Apache gunships soon, as he made a surprise visit to Cairo. Kerry became the highest-ranking American official to visit Egypt since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power after overwhelmingly winning an election in May.

Syrian Kurdish fighters and rebel allies overnight seized a key base held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) north of its Raqqa stronghold, in a new blow for the jihadists. The capture of the Brigade 93 base comes just a week after ISIL was expelled from …

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited Mali to show his support for a landmark peace deal agreed in the former colony to end years of unrest and ethnic divisions. Just two days after Mali’s Tuareg-led rebel alliance added its signature to the Algiers Accord — aimed at stabilising Mali’s …