The United States on Thursday sanctioned the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court over the ICC's investigations targeting US personnel as well as alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

The US Treasury Department said in a statement that it had imposed sanctions against Karim Khan in response to President Donald Trump's February 6 executive order, which called for him to be sanctioned.

The ICC has been investigating Israel's conduct during its war against Hamas in Gaza, launched in response to the Palestinian militant group's deadly October 7, 2023 attacks.

Lebanon's parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri said on Thursday that Beirut rejected Israel's demand to remain in five southern locations after a February 18 deadline for fully implementing a ceasefire deal.

Concerns have mounted ahead of a deadline for the fragile November 27 truce that ended more than a year of Israel-Hezbollah hostilities and has already been extended once, with both sides accusing each other of ceasefire violations.

The USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier collided with a merchant vessel in the Mediterranean Sea, the US Navy said Thursday.

The warship's collision with the Besiktas-M took place late the previous day while the carrier was operating near Port Said in Egypt, US Sixth Fleet spokesperson Commander Timothy Gorman said in a statement.

"The collision did not endanger the Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) as there are no reports of flooding or injuries. The propulsion plants are unaffected and in a safe and stable condition," Gorman said, adding that the incident was under investigation.

Turkey has hit German sporting equipment giant Adidas with a fine of more than $15,000 for failing to inform customers that one of its flagship footwear models contained pigskin.

The Muslim-majority country's advertising regulator slammed Adidas for describing its "Samba OG" trainers -- sported in recent years by models Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid -- as made from "real leather", without specifying it came from pigs.

Western nations joined key players in the Middle East on Thursday in a pledge of support for war-torn Syria's delicate transition after the fall of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad.

Around 20 countries including Arab nations, Turkey, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan agreed at the close of a conference in Paris to "work together to ensure the success of the transition in a process led by Syria".

The meeting's final statement also pledged support for Syria's new authorities in the fight against "all forms of terrorism and extremism".

Tens of thousands of Jordanians gathered at Amman's Marka airport on Thursday to express support for King Abdullah II's position on Gaza on his return from Washington where he met US President Donald Trump.

King Abdullah met with Trump at the White House on Tuesday in a seemingly tense exchange in which the United States president doubled down on a plan to "take over" the Gaza Strip and send its more than two million Palestinian residents to Jordan and Egypt.

US President Donald Trump inked plans Thursday for sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" that could hit both allies and competitors, in a dramatic escalation of an international trade war that economists warn could fuel inflation at home.

Since taking office, Trump has announced a broad range of tariffs targeting some of America's biggest trading partners, arguing that they would help tackle unfair practices -- and in some cases using the threats to influence policy.

French judicial authorities have charged the president of Paris Saint-Germain football club, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, with complicity in abuse of power concerning shareholder voting at a company, a source close to the case said Thursday.

Al-Khelaifi was charged on February 5 with complicity in the alleged buying of a vote and harming of freedom to vote over a switch in the voting of a Qatari investment fund on the board of the Lagardere Group in 2018, a judicial source added, with both sources asking not to be named.

Jonas spent more than a year trying to reach Tunisia after escaping ethnic violence in his native Nigeria, but rising anti-migrant sentiment and a government crackdown in the North African country have left him without help.

Speaking under a pseudonym for fear of expulsion, Jonas said he crossed through Niger and Libya to escape attacks on his Igbo ethnic group.

Upon arriving in Tunis last November, where his wife gave birth to their first child, they were met with a frozen asylum system and an official clampdown on migrant aid organisations.

Israel warned Thursday that Hamas must release three living hostages this weekend or face a resumption of the war in Gaza, after the Palestinian militant group said it was committed to the truce agreement.

Palestinian sources reported progress in efforts to salvage the ceasefire, which was plunged into crisis after Hamas said it would not release hostages on Saturday, citing Israeli violations.

Israel countered that if Hamas failed to free captives on schedule, it would resume military operations.