President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Monday that he will preside over a Cabinet meeting, traditionally chaired by the prime minister, for the second time since his election to office in August on March 9.

"I would like to inform you that I will convene the cabinet once again in the presidential palace on March 9," he said in a speech at the presidential palace in Ankara.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Abdullah Abdullah on Monday hinted at early beginning of peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban leadership, but said national interests would be kept supreme.

Chairing a meeting of the council of ministers, Abdullah assured the Afghans that national interest would not be damaged in the peace process, the details of which would be released in the next few days.

Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) is expected to look into the constitutionality of three laws regulating the country's parliamentary elections on Wednesday, in a ruling that could delay voting set to start on 21 March.

March's parliamentary elections are the third and final step in a political roadmap set forth by the Egyptian army following the ouster of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, after a vote to ratify the constitution in January 2014 and presidential elections in June 2014.

Parliament’s General Assembly has passed 10 of the 132 articles in a controversial homeland security bill thanks to votes from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) despite activist-style demonstrations by opposition parties in the chamber.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has said the the international community would be united in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) in Libya as well as Iraq and Syria.

The parliamentary elections committee in Menoufiya governorate has disqualified former leading National Democratic Party (NDP) member and steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz from running in the upcoming parliamentary poll, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported on Sunday. 

The committee announced on Sunday the final list of candidates registered for the upcoming parliamentary elections to be held in March.

The list did not include the name of Ezz who seeked to run in Menoufiya’s El-Sadat district. 

Bilan positif de l'opération d'inscription sur les listes électorales qui a pris fin jeudi 19 février. Un total de 1,5 million de personnes inscrites sur ces listes, un chiffre important par rapport aux précédentes campagnes électorales.

One person rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the gate of a hotel in Somalia’s capital, and another went through the gates and blew himself up, killing at least four people on Friday, including the mayor and a legislator, officials said.

The country’s deputy prime minister was also among those wounded by the bombings at the Central Hotel near the presidential palace, police official Capt. Mohammed Hussein said.

Al-Shabab, an Islamic insurgent group, claimed the responsibility for the attack, according to the group’s radio station, Andulus.