Turkey will let US and coalition forces use its bases for attacks against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria and Iraq, American defence sources have said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has made the highest-level American visit to Egypt since President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi took office as Washington presses the former army chief to adopt more moderate policies.

EGYPT’S military rulers have called for an end to strikes and protests as thousands of state employees, from ambulance drivers to police and transport workers, demonstrated to demand better pay in a growing wave of labour unrest unleashed by the democracy uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak’s regime.

Egypt was hit by a wave of pay strikes by public sector workers today, even as the interim government managed to virtually clear out demonstrators from Tahrir Square.