US Secretary of State John Kerry began talks with Pakistan’s new government on Thursday, likely to be dominated by the fight against Islamist militants as US troops withdraw from Afghanistan.

The United States still plans to hold a major military exercise called Bright Star in Egypt in mid-September, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Wednesday, even after the Egyptian military’s toppling of the president

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle arrived in Cairo on Wednesday for talks with Egypt’s interim government and backers of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.