Iraq has hanged 13 prisoners convicted on terror charges following a recommendation by the prime minister to speed up executions of those on death row for terror-related offences.

Polls opened today in Egypt's presidential election with the outcome, a second term for President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, a foregone conclusion.

Latest: An armed man took hostages in a supermarket in southern France, killing three people and injuring about a dozen others before being shot dead when French police stormed the market, authorities have said.

At least 29 people were killed and another 52 were wounded in the attack.

Here's a look at what to expect from Vladimir Putin's next six years in power, for Russia's rivals, neighbours and its own 147 million citizens.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on churchgoers in Russia's predominantly Muslim Dagestan region.

Nearly 7,000 Syrians will be allowed to remain in the United States for another 18 months, the Trump administration has said, but no more Syrian citizens will be able to apply for the special protection programme.

At least 10 people, including eight Coptic Christians, have been killed in a shooting outside a church, Egypt's Health Ministry says.

Two suicide bombers have attacked a church in the Pakistani city of Quetta, killing nine people and wounding more than 50 others.

An air strike on a Syrian village held by the Islamic State group has killed at least 25 people, all of them civilians, according to activists.

Iraqi forces backed by the US-led coalition have liberated the last town in the country held by the Islamic State group, according to defence officials.

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have agreed to defeat the Islamic State group in Syria, the Kremlin said.

A suicide bomber and another attacker have struck a local TV station in Kabul, killing at least two guards in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.

The CIA's release of documents seized during the 2011 raid that killed al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has again raised questions about Iran's support of the extremist network leading up to the September 11 terror attacks.

Police have detained 283 suspected Islamic State group militants in Turkey in the past 11 days, security officials said.

Combing operations are under way to clear the city of land mines and extremist sleeper cells, a commander with US-backed Syrian forces has said.

Suspected Islamic State militants on Sunday attacked six checkpoints in the turbulent north of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing six soldiers and wounding 37.

An American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released after years held captive by a network with ties to the Taliban, US and Pakistani officials said.

The attacker was killed by soldiers after Sunday's stabbings, which were claimed by the Islamic State group.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a pair of suicide bombings in the Syrian capital that killed 17 civilians and policemen.

Five people are in custody after an apparent failed bombing attempt in a chic Paris neighbourhood.

Latest: A man who stabbed two women to death at Marseille's main railway station had been arrested and released the day before the attack, French officials have said.

Latest: A car and knife attack on a police officer and a high-speed chase of a moving van that left four people injured appear to be the work of a single suspected terrorist, Canadian authorities said.

More than 500,000 people joined an anti-violence march in Barcelona protesting at last week's terror attacks in which 15 people died.

At least 20 people have been killed and 50 wounded after militants stormed a mosque in the Afghan capital while worshippers were at Friday prayers, hospital officials said.

Russia's intelligence agency said it has foiled a terror plot led by militants fighting for the Islamic State group in Syria.

Politicians in the Philippines have overwhelmingly approved extending martial law in the south until the end of the year amid a massive offensive to combat a two-month siege.

US forces killed the head of the Islamic State group affiliate in Afghanistan during an air strike earlier this week, the Pentagon says.

A new report is highlighting the scale of death and suffering caused to civilians caught up in the war in Mosul.

Russian bombers have targeted the Islamic State group in Syria with cruise missiles, the military said.

An Iraqi commander said his forces have taken Mosul's landmark al-Nuri Mosque compound that was destroyed by the Islamic State group last week.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has assured troops that he will protect them from any legal action if they accidentally kill civilians while battling militants who have besieged a southern city.

The death toll from twin blasts in Parachinar has climbed to 67, bringing the overall death toll from three separate attacks in Pakistan to 85.

Turkish authorities say they will not allow the Istanbul Pride march to take place on Sunday - the third year in a row the celebration has been banned.

The Islamic State group destroyed the al-Nuri mosque in Mosul and the famous leaning minaret when fighters detonated explosives inside the structures, Iraq's Ministry of Defence has said.

Russia’s defence ministry has said it will treat US-led coalition planes in Syria, west of the Euphrates River, as targets after the US military shot down a Syrian air force jet.

Russia is trying to verify reports that its military has killed the leader of the Islamic State group in an air strike targeting a meeting of militant leaders.

A US-backed Syrian force has captured a neighbourhood of the Islamic State group's de-facto capital of Raqqa after two days of fierce fighting.

Iran says it has killed the alleged mastermind of twin attacks last week claimed by the Islamic State group.

More than 40 others were wounded in the attacks which have been claimed by the Islamic State.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has declared martial rule in the country's south for 60 days to deal with with an attack by Muslim extremists allied with the Islamic State group who laid siege to a southern city.

Prosecutors in Istanbul are seeking 40 consecutive life sentences for the man who attacked a nightclub in Istanbul during New Year's celebrations, killing 39 people, Turkey's state-run news agency reported.

Fourteen people have been killed after a roadside bomb targeted a minivan in Pakistan's north-western tribal region.

The attack came three days before the first round of France's tense presidential election.