Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky takes center stage at the United Nations on Wednesday as he seeks to sustain global support ahead of US elections that could bring a sharp shift from his top backer.
Zelensky, clad in his trademark military fatigues, a year ago made a dramatic first wartime appearance before the annual UN General Assembly as he urged international pressure on Russia over its invasion.
At the border with Iran, streams of Afghan refugees return with children in their arms, their entire worldly possessions contained in a large bag.
Every day up to 3,000 Afghans -- some who were born in Iran -- arrive back in their home country after a failed attempt at a better life.
"Refugees face a lot of physical and mental torture," Abdul Ghani Qazizada, responsible for registering the arrivals in the border town of Islam Qala, told AFP.
Many entered Iran illegally or let their visas expire. Nearly 90 percent have been deported, with the rest returning voluntarily.
Since war began in Gaza on October 7, Israel's military campaign has received rolling coverage on domestic television, with just one notable aspect missing -- the Palestinians living, and dying, under the bombs.
Every night during prime time, Israeli viewers hear about military operations in the Gaza Strip, now ravaged by the ongoing retaliation for Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.
The health ministry in Gaza says the war that erupted after Hamas attacked on Israel on October 7 has killed more than 41,467 people.
With the Gaza Strip under Hamas's control for nearly two decades, and with belligerents throughout history using death tolls in their quest for legitimacy, many have questioned the veracity of the health ministry's figures.
Israel has criticised the data for failing to distinguish between fighters and civilians, and US President Joe Biden also raised questions about its credibility early in the war.
It has been nearly 10 months since Aviva Siegel was freed from captivity in Gaza, but her thoughts remain in the Palestinian territory where her husband Keith is still held by Hamas.
Siegel is one of a group of hostages released during a brief truce in the Israel-Hamas war last year who now pine for the loved ones they left behind -- and worry about what stalled truce talks mean for their fate.
"I'm still in Gaza, I haven't left yet," Siegel told AFP, describing her mental state.
Newly freed from an Israeli prison, Wael Masha rode atop friends' shoulders through the streets of his West Bank refugee camp before bursting into his home to kiss his mother's feet.
Less than a year later, those friends carried the 18-year-old's body through the same streets after Israeli forces killed him in an air strike, describing him as an armed militant who posed a threat to Israeli forces.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees is bracing for a triple crisis as Israeli strikes on Lebanon add to the strain it is facing in Gaza and the West Bank, its chief told AFP on Tuesday.
UNRWA, founded in 1949, provides services, including education and healthcare, for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
World leaders lined up at the United Nations on Tuesday to call on Israel to refrain from a full-scale war in Lebanon, with the organization's chief warning the situation was on the "brink."
The UN General Assembly, the high point of the international diplomatic calendar, comes after Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes had killed 558 people -- 50 of them children.
"Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest. Even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," US President Joe Biden said in his farewell address to the global body.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday pressed Iran's new president to use his influence to dial down soaring tensions in Lebanon, where Israel is striking Tehran-backed Hezbollah.
Macron met with Masoud Pezeshkian, a self-styled reformist in a cleric-run state which Israel sees as its archenemy, on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly as casualties mounted in Lebanon.
Macron "highlighted the responsibility of Iran to support a general de-escalation and use its influence with destabilizing actors," an Elysee statement said, in a clear reference to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah announced on Wednesday the death of a commander, hours after the Israeli army said it had killed him in a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs which Lebanese authorities said killed six people.
In a statement, the Iran-backed group announced the death of "commander Ibrahim Mohammed Kobeissi", who was "martyred on the road to Jerusalem", the phrase Hezbollah uses to refer to fighters killed by Israeli strikes.
