Concerns are growing among some people in Iran about who will replace Ebrahim Raisi as president of the Islamic republic after his death in a helicopter crash on Sunday.
"I'm more worried than sad," Mohadeseh Jalali said at Wednesday's funeral in Tehran for Raisi and his entourage who died when their aircraft hit a mountain in northwest Iran during bad weather.
The country is now set to hold an election on June 28 to elect a successor to Raisi.
In Beirut's impoverished Palestinian refugee camp of Shatila -- a maze of alleyways where posters honour fallen martyrs -- residents expressed joy Wednesday after three European countries said they would recognise a Palestinian state.
"We hope that the whole world will recognise Palestine, and we are happy with this decision... It is a beautiful feeling," said Alaa Ghozlan, 26, whose family is originally from Haifa, now in northern Israel.
More than seven months of deadly fighting between Israel and Hamas have highlighted the gulf between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, testing the credibility of a long-sought two-state solution to the conflict.
Peace brokers have spent decades advancing the idea of two separate sovereign states living side by side in peace but the Israel-Hamas war since October 7 has brought a renewed sense of urgency.
Ireland, Norway and Spain announced on Wednesday that they would recognise the State of Palestine, joining seven other European countries that have already done so.
Norway, Ireland and Spain on Wednesday announced they will recognise a Palestinian state from next week, highlighting the European Union's deep split over the issue as the Israel-Hamas war rages.
The three nations hope other countries will follow suit, but France said now was not the right moment -- yet Paris noted recognition was not "taboo".
Israeli forces raided the West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday, an AFP correspondent reported, a day after soldiers killed eight Palestinians.
Troops fought militants in the city's refugee camp for a second day, with explosions and gunfire heard from inside, while soldiers in Israeli armoured vehicles fired at masked youths in the city centre, the correspondent said.
The Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah said Israeli forces had killed eight people and wounded 24 during the fighting, which began on Tuesday morning.
Israel reacted with fury after three European countries said Wednesday they would recognise a Palestinian state, more than seven months into the devastating Gaza war.
Ireland, Norway and Spain said they would formally recognise the State of Palestine on May 28, drawing praise from many Arab and Muslim states.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move amounted to a "reward for terror", after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched its October 7 attack which sparked the Gaza war.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers for late president Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday as huge crowds thronged the capital Tehran for his funeral procession.
Flanked by top officials, Khamenei said prayers over the coffins of the eight dead from Sunday's helicopter crash, who also included foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
A sea of mourners filled the open space around Tehran university, where the prayers were held before the funeral procession moved on to Enghelab and Azadi squares.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday he was unsure whether Israel was ready to make compromises to reach a deal to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia, notably on a pathway to a Palestinian state.
His frank assessment came after Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden's national security advisor, visited both countries and briefed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the "potential" for a historic accord.
Neymar is set to miss the start of the next Saudi Pro League season as he recovers from a serious knee injury, Al Hilal's coach said Tuesday.
The Brazilian attacker suffered the injury in October and missed much of the current campaign, but Al Hilal still won the league for a record-extending 19th time earlier this month.
The Saudi league traditionally starts in August and the former Barcelona and PSG star will also miss next month's Copa America.
At least 10 female farm workers, nine of them children, died in Egypt on Tuesday when a minibus plunged off a river ferry and into the Nile northwest of Cairo, the health ministry said.
"The toll is at 10 and could rise," ministry spokesman Hossam Abdelghaffar told AFP.
Reporting the accident, the state's flagship Al-Ahram newspaper said the driver, who had released the handbrake, was arrested while trying to flee.
He had "a verbal argument" with one of the passengers before getting out of the bus, the paper said.
