ISMAILIA, Egypt — Egypt today will unveil a major extension of the Suez Canal that President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has billed as an historic achievement which will boost the country's ailing economy after years of unrest.

An elaborate ceremony in the canal city of Ismailia will be hosted by the president and attended by foreign dignitaries amid tight security measures following a series of attacks by Islamic militants in the Sinai Peninsula and the capital.

The unveiling of the $8.5 billion extension has been trumpeted as a historic achievement by pro-government media and has revived the nationalistic personality cult built around the 60-year-old el-Sissi, who as army chief led the overthrow of an Islamist president in 2013 and was elected to office last year.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The confusion and frustration that punctuated the investigation into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 erupted anew today after officials offered conflicting levels of confidence on whether a piece of a wing found washed up on an Indian Ocean island last week came from the vanished plane.Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's announcement in the pre-dawn hours today that the part, known as a flaperon, did indeed come from the doomed aircraft was at odds with the message from authorities in France, the U.S. and Australia, who have stopped short of full confirmation.The conflicting comments raised questions about why Malaysia had seemingly gone rogue with its announcement and infuriated many families of those on board the plane.

BEIRUT — The Islamic State group today seized a key town in central Syria following heavy clashes with President Bashar Assad's forces, in the militants' biggest advance since capturing the historic town of Palmyra in May, Syrian activists said.The heavily populated town of Qaryatain lies southwest of Palmyra, which is home to towering Roman ruins. Its capture allows the IS group to link areas under its control in and around Palmyra with areas in the eastern countryside of Qalamoun in Damascus province.The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the IS group seized the town after three suicide bombers targeted army checkpoints at the entrance the day before, setting off a fierce battle.