Bodies of the seven Japanese nationals who were killed in a militant attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Bangladesh capital Dhaka return to home soil Tuesday morning.

Dozens of people have died in an offensive by so-called Islamic State on government-held areas of Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria, local media say.

Some 400 people in the besieged Syrian town of Madaya need to be urgently evacuated for medical treatment, says UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien.