The Nigerian military has taken control of a key town in Borno state, a month after Boko Haram militants captured it.

According to a military statement, Nigerian soldiers, backed by the air force, retook the town of Monguno, near the state capital Maiduguri.

The US meanwhile told the BBC it would support Nigeria with training and equipment.

Lt-Gen Steven Hummer said that US Africa Command was "ready to assist in whatever way [Nigeria] see as being practical".

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) rejected UN support for a joint offensive against Hutu militants in the country’s conflicted eastern region, reports Agence France Presse.

The announcement came after the UN said it was pulling its support due to President Joseph Kabila’s rejections of demands that Congolese generals accused of human rights violations be replaced.

French, German and Ukrainian leaders said they were “concerned” about post-ceasefire fighting in eastern Ukraine on Monday, reports the Telegraph.

The French President Francis Hollande, said that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called for “their desire of observers from Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe to have free access.. to implement the ceasefire.”

Egypt has urged the international community to expand the fight against Islamic State into Libya, after 21 Egyptian Copts were beheaded by the militant group's arm in the country.

The Egyptian air force in response bombed IS targets in Libya, with President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi describing Islamic State as threat to international peace.

"What is happening in Libya is a threat to international peace and security," the president said.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement quoted by AP that "immediate and effective" action was needed and maintaining the status quo constituted a "clear danger".

The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution on Sunday calling on Houthi militants to immediately withdraw from Yemeni government offices, after they seized power and dissolved parliament earlier this month.

The resolution demands that the Houthi “immediately and unconditionally” withdraw from government institutions and warns of take "further steps" if the resolution is not implemented, as did an earlier resolution passed by the council.

It also "deplores actions taken by the Houthis to dissolve parliament and take over Yemen's government institutions, including acts of violence", reports Reuters.

A ceasefire between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists has come into effect from 12.01am on Sunday local time (10.01pm Saturday), though sporadic shell fire has been reported across parts of eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Petro Poreshenko spoke in a nationally televised broadcast, saying,
"I very much hope that the last chance to begin the long and difficult peaceful process for a political settlement will not be wasted."

The Italian coastguard launched a bid to rescue more than 1,000 migrants who are stranded in the Mediterranean Sea, between Europe and North Africa.

More than 130 people have been rescued so far, but a spokesman for the coast guard in Rome told Reuters that they are certain that "more than 1,000 migrants" were at risk. The group had been travelling in dinghies off the coast of Libya in an attempt to reach Europe, before stormy weather hit them.

The rescue attempt comes after up to 300 people died on Wednesday, when boats carrying them across the Mediterranean capsized.

A Jordanian court has sentenced the deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in the country to 18 months in prison, for criticising the United Arab Emirates in a Facebook post.

Zaki Bani Ersheid, who was arrested in November last year, was convicted of committing “acts harmful to the country’s relations with a friendly nation.” 

The Muslim Brotherhood said in a statement that the sentence was “politically motivated and demonstrates a deliberate escalation by the state against the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan.” “It is a blow to freedom of speech and the rights of citizens,” added the opposition organisation.

Sweden's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Margot Wallstrom, said that it was time to discuss Kurdish independence and rethink Swedish foreign policy, on Friday.

Noting that there were approximately 30 million Kurds worldwide living without a united and independent country, Ms Wallstrom said,

"We as the Social Democratic Party have had a clear policy toward the case of Palestine, and I want Sweden to change its foreign policy toward the Middle East as it is the right time to discuss Kurdish independence."

"Kurds are bravely fighting the international terrorism organisation known as Islamic State (IS) and the Peshmerga is the only force which defends its people," she added.

The Peshmerga, known for their devout commitment to the Kurdish nationalist cause and regarded as well-trained, well-armed and capable, are the Iraqi kurdish military force of the Kurdish struggle for self-determination. The term Peshmerga translates to ‘those who follow death.’