US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday in Cairo that a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza would be the best way to stop violence from spreading in the Middle East.

This marks Blinken's 10th trip to the region since the start of the war that was sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.

His visit aimed to salvage stalled negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the conflict.

No other regional stops, including Israel, were on his itinerary.

UN member states voted Wednesday to formally demand an end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories within 12 months and the imposition of sanctions for non-compliance.

The non-binding resolution, which Israel claimed would fuel violence, calling it "distorted" and "cynical," is based on an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) saying the occupation since 1967 was "unlawful."

There were 124 votes in favor, 14 against and a notable 43 abstentions, with the Palestinian delegation heralding the adoption as "historic."

Each year the world produces around 400 million tonnes of plastic waste, much of it discarded after just a few minutes of use.

Negotiators hope to reach the world's first treaty on plastic pollution this year, but across five very different countries, AFP found single-use plastic remains hugely popular as a cheap and convenient choice, illustrating the challenges ahead:

Bangkok

On a Bangkok street lined with food vendors, customers line up for Maliwan's famed traditional sweets.

Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon Tuesday, killing at least nine people and wounding some 2,800 in blasts the Iran-backed militant group blamed on Israel.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the wave of explosions, which came just hours after Israel announced it was broadening the aims of the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attacks to include its fight against Hezbollah along its border with Lebanon.

Israel has scored a major intelligence success by apparently infiltrating a supply chain to cause the simultaneous explosion of hundreds of Hezbollah pagers in a blow for the Lebanese militant group and its Iranian backers, analysts say.

At least nine people were killed and some 2,800 wounded, including the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, when the pagers exploded in Hezbollah strongholds across the country in an unprecedented simultaneous attack.

Lebanese medics treated Tuesday a stream of wounded people at a hospital car park as others in Hezbollah's southern Beirut stronghold rushed to give blood after group members' pagers had exploded.

Simultaneous blasts of the devices hit locations in several Hezbollah bastions across Lebanon, with the health ministry reporting nine killed and some 2,800 others wounded.

The Iran-backed group blamed Israel after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges of fire in stated support of Palestinian ally Hamas whose October 7 attack triggered the Gaza war.

The United States said Tuesday it was not aware in advance and had no involvement in mass explosions of pagers used by Lebanon's Hezbollah, as it urged restraint by Iran in response.

"I can tell you that the US was not involved in it, the US was not aware of this incident in advance and, at this point, we're gathering information," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

The European Union's foreign policy chief called Tuesday for more pressure on Israel and Hamas for a Gaza ceasefire as a deal remained out of reach despite several rounds of talks.

Josep Borrell said Israeli hostages and the people of Gaza could not wait any longer, as the clock ticks down to one year since the October 7 attacks that triggered the war.

"The only thing I can say is that all actors involved have to continue putting pressure on both parties to reach this agreement," he said in Dubai during a visit to the United Arab Emirates.

Cristiano Ronaldo's Saudi club Al Nassr announced the departure of Portuguese coach Luis Castro on Tuesday, a day after starting their AFC Champions League Elite campaign with a disappointing draw.

Monday's 1-1 stalemate with Iraq's Al Shorta in the Asian competition compounded a slow start to the domestic season with the current contract of Ronaldo, 39, due to expire next summer.

"Al Nassr can announce that head coach Luis Castro has left the club," said a statement posted on X.

An Israeli strike on Lebanon killed three people Tuesday, the health ministry said, with Israel saying they were Hezbollah members, as tensions intensified after Israel expanded war aims to include its northern border.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces in support of ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack on Israel triggered the war in Gaza.