Libya slid into chaos after the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed dictator Moammar Gadhafi, with an array of militias, including extremist groups, carving out fiefdoms across the country and backing rival authorities. The chaos allowed IS and other extremist groups to take root, and transformed Libya into a major conduit for illegal migration to Europe.

"The Chinese military will pay very close attention to related developments, and firmly safeguard China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests".
The 275 US troops and nine aircraft that Carter said would stay in the Philippines following the Balikatan war games are the first major deployments under a bilateral defence pact finalised in January.

So far, he said, the Chinese vessels have been operating very professionally. "We've been very pleased with the interactions we've had," he said. "They are operating where they think they should, we're operating where we think we should. They generally have professional discussions over the bridge about where we are."
Under a blazing sun, as the heat index pushed past 100 degress, Carter landed on the Stennis in a Marine V-22 Osprey helicopter. He spent about two hours on the ship, watching a number of fighters shoot into the sky off the flight deck, do circles around the Stennis and then land again, roaring to a stop as their tailhook caught the arresting wire.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed.
Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens but no official Saudi complicity in the Al-Qaeda attacks has been proven.
The kingdom has never been formally implicated.
Saudi Arabia has reportedly warned it could sell off several hundred billion dollars' worth of American assets if the bipartisan bill passes.

"They have been operating very professionally," Boxall said.
- Chinese warning -
In Beijing, China reacted defiantly to Thursday's announcement of the joint patrols and US deployments to the Philippines, with its defence ministry warning the military would protect the nation's territory.
"US-Philippine joint patrols in the South China Sea promote regional militarisation and undermine regional peace and stability," said a Chinese defence ministry statement released late Thursday.

Later in the massive gray ship's hangar bay, Carter said his message in making the trip is that the United States "intends to continue to play a role in keeping peace and stability in this region."
He said the only reason America's presence in the region comes up as an issue is because of China's behavior over the last year- and "that's a question of Chinese behavior."

Saudi Arabia has assigned warplanes to a US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria.
Riyadh leads a separate Arab military coalition that for 13 months has supported Yemen's government in its battle against Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels.
The rights group Amnesty International asked Obama to place human rights at the centre of his discussions. It said opposition voices in the Gulf are systematically "stifled" under the cover of national security.

This will be the second time that Carter has flown onto a carrier while it is embarked in the South China Sea. Last November, he was on the USS Theodore Roosevelt as it sailed northwest of Borneo.
That visit came just as week after a U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Lassen, challenged China's claim to a 12-mile territorial limit around Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands, about 150 miles to 200 miles from where the Theodore Roosevelt was sailing Thursday.

The chaos permeating the country has also shut most of Libya's oil facilities and terminals. The Islamic State has also targeted the oil fields in its attacks, setting several ablaze. On Tuesday, the al-Waha oil field, one of the country's biggest, evacuated its workers after vehicles flying the Islamic State group's black banner were seen nearby.

US Secretary of State John Kerry (R) and Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif pose for a photo prior to a meeting at the United Nations in New York