She was one of ancient Egypt's most successful rulers, a rare female pharaoh who preceded Cleopatra by 1,500 years, but Queen Hatshepsut's legacy was systematically erased by her stepson successor after her death.

The question of why her impressive reign was so methodically scrubbed has attracted significant debate, but in new research published Monday, University of Toronto scholar Jun Wong argues far too much emphasis has been placed on her gender.

President Donald Trump vowed that his order to bomb Iran would be a one-off and not the beginning of another prolonged US war in the Middle East.

But with Trump musing about everything from "unconditional surrender" to regime change, it remains to be seen if the US intervention will remain limited -- or if Iran will let it be.

Two days after the United States bombed Iran's key nuclear sites as part of an Israeli-led military campaign, Iran fired missiles at a major US base in Qatar that were shot down.

When Donald Trump said on Thursday he'd give himself two weeks to decide on bombing Iran, critics wrote it off as the US president using a familiar timeframe to put off difficult decisions.

The next evening he left the White House for a fundraising dinner at his New Jersey golf resort, and much of the world seemed to believe that there was still space for diplomacy.

In reality, Trump was already on the verge of making his mind up.

After eight members of her family, including her husband, were killed in a suicide bombing in a Damascus church, Laure Nasr demanded justice while Syria's minority communities worried about their future.

"I want (Syrian interim President) Ahmed al-Sharaa to personally bring me justice," a distraught Nasr said on Monday as she received mourners at her home.

"Isn't he the president? Are we not a democratic state now?" she said, after Sunday's attack, which came more than six months after Islamist-led forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

Europe and the United States should not give a lifeline to the Iranian leadership under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei through talks when his rule is "closer every day" to ending, the son of Iran's ousted shah told AFP on Monday.

Reza Pahlavi, formerly crown prince and now a key opposition figure, said in an interview in Paris that foreign powers had to seize the chance of what he termed Iran's "Berlin Wall moment" with its leaders weakened by days of Israeli air strikes.

After President Donald Trump bragged US strikes had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear capabilities, officials cautioned it was still too soon to assess the impact on the country's nuclear programme.

Many questions remain after Sunday's strikes, especially about the whereabouts of Iran's sensitive stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent -- a short step from the 90 percent required for a nuclear weapon.

- Where is Iran's enriched uranium? -

Syrian authorities on Monday announced arrests over a suicide blast targeting a church blamed on the Islamic State group, as President Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed those involved in the "heinous" attack would face justice.

The shooting and suicide bombing Sunday at the Saint Elias church in the working-class Dwelaa district of the Syrian capital killed 25 people and wounded 63, the health ministry said.

The UK government announced Monday it would ban campaign group Palestine Action under anti-terror laws following a "disgraceful attack" on Britain's largest air force base last week.

The group denounced the proposed ban, announced by interior minister Yvette Cooper, as an "unhinged reaction" and its supporters scuffled with police in central London as they protested the move.

Iran has vowed to retaliate for US air strikes on its nuclear facilities, and has two main options: attacking American forces in the region, and closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

An advisor to Iran's supreme leader issued a warning on Sunday, saying any US base in the region that takes part in attacks is a "legitimate target".

Disrupting traffic through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for oil and gas, would send energy prices soaring in a global inflationary shock.

Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed Monday that those involved in a "heinous" suicide attack on a Damascus church a day earlier would face justice, calling for unity in the country.

The shooting and suicide bombing Sunday at the church in the working-class Dwelaa district of the Syrian capital killed 25 people and wounded 63, the health ministry said, raising an earlier toll of 22 killed.

The authorities said the attacker was affiliated with the Islamic State group.