With U.S. and European support, African states threatened by Boko Haram are out to smash the militant Islamist group terrorizing the region -- but a coordinated response is required if they are to succeed.

A regional offensive launched early last year against the group by Chad, and Nigeria under new President Muhammadu Buhari has seen Boko Haram driven out from numerous towns and villages that it controlled in northeastern Nigeria.

Five years after the killing of Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, the network he founded is far from dead even if it has suffered a series of setbacks.

Replaced as the preeminent global jihadist power by the Islamic State group, Al-Qaida nonetheless remains a potent force and dangerous threat, experts say.

Germany will Tuesday start its first war crimes trial over atrocities in Syria, as a mass refugee influx brings not only witnesses and victims but also suspects into the country.

Aria L., a 21-year-old German national and suspected jihadist, posted on Facebook photos of himself posing next to two decapitated heads in Syria -- and his case is not the only one from the war-torn country to occupy German justice.

Salah Abdeslam is sitting on a potential goldmine of information as the last surviving member of the Paris attacks terror squad.

The 26-year-old, accused of playing a key logistical role in the attacks, has promised to "explain himself" to French investigators, but it remains to be seen how much he will reveal.

As world powers backing peace talks continue to insist Syria's ceasefire is holding, residents of battered second city Aleppo can only express stunned disbelief.

"I don't know what truce they're talking about. There's no truce here," Abu Mohammed, a father-of-four living in the rebel-held east of the city, told AFP.

Saudi authorities will have to confront a range of vested interests if they hope to pull off an ambitious plan to diversify the economy away from oil, analysts said.

The "Vision 2030" plan, unveiled Monday by the kingdom's powerful Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aims to transform an economy that has for decades relied mainly on Saudi Arabia's vast oil resources.

President Barack Obama's challenge that Europe unite and shoulder more of the burden for its own security might soon be answered, in part, by a military mission off the Libyan coast.

"Europe has sometimes been complacent about its own defense."

When the clock ticks down on Barack Obama's presidency, five years will have passed since he officially pulled U.S. combat forces from Iraq.

But little by little, American troops are returning -- thanks to the Islamic State group and their hold over parts of the region.

U.S. President Barack Obama hailed Chancellor Angela Merkel on a visit to Germany as being on the "right side of history" with her welcoming refugee policy, but critics on Monday slammed his praise as hollow lip service.

Speaking in the northern German city of Hanover, Obama said the embattled Merkel had "demonstrated real political and moral leadership" in letting in more than 1.1 million people fleeing war and misery.

Saudi Arabia's hard-charging Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman holds unusual power for a man of just 30, so much so that diplomats have nicknamed him "Mr. Everything".

The key figure behind Monday's unveiling of a vast plan to restructure the kingdom's oil-dependent economy, the son of King Salman has risen to among Saudi Arabia's most influential figures since being named second-in-line to the throne last year.