An Egyptian court has sentenced 68 people to up to 15 years in prison over protest clashes, in the latest mass sentencing of Muslim Brotherhood supporters.

US intelligence agencies have underestimated the activity of armed groups inside Syria, which has become “ground zero” for them worldwide, US President Barack Obama has said in an interview aired by American CBS television.

Ashraf Ghani has been sworn is as the new president of Afghanistan in a lavish ceremony at the presidential palace in Kabul, ending months of turmoil over a fraud tainted election.

Israeli forces have detained seven Palestinians in the occupied West Bank overnight under the pretext they had been involved in attacks against Israeli troops.

Syrian militant group al-Nusra Front has denounced US-led air strikes as “a war against Islam”.In an online statement, the al-Qaeda-linked group called on jihadists around the world to target Western and Arab countries involved.

A group linked to al-Qaeda has pledged retaliation over the ongoing air strikes in Syria as the US-led coalition widens its assault on ISIL targets in Syria and British warplanes fly their first combat missions over neighbouring Iraq.

An Egyptian court has postponed the verdict in the retrial of deposed president Hosni Mubarak on charges of corruption and killing of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 uprising that toppled him.

US aircraft have launched a fresh wave of bombing raids against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria, in the fifth consecutive day of air strikes in the country, according to a Pentagon official.

Israel on Friday imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshippers into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem for the third consecutive day.

The United States and its partners carried out at least 50 air strikes on ISIL targets in the Syrian provinces of Raqqa and Deir al-Zor on Tuesday, while the Nusra Front was also hit by air strikes in northwest Syria, a group monitoring the war in Syria said.