Fighting intensified Wednesday in Gaza's Khan Yunis, the focus of Israel's war against Hamas, with the UN saying nine people were killed in tank shelling at one of its shelters, sparking international condemnation.
The United Nations slammed a "blatant disregard" for the rules of war while the United States deplored the attack at the shelter housing displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza's biggest city.
French prosecutors have requested that the former chief of Egypt's Flash Airlines stand trial over a 2004 crash off the Sinai Peninsula that killed 148 people, a judicial source said Wednesday.
The chartered Boeing 737 plunged into the Red Sea on January 3, 2004, just minutes after take-off from the coastal resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, with all on board perishing, including 134 French citizens.
The families of the victims have demanded that Mohamed Nour, managing director of the low-cost airline at the time, face trial.
Israel kept up its heavy assault on the "encircled" Gazan city of Khan Yunis following an outpouring of grief over the army's deadliest single day since ground operations in the territory began.
As the fighting raged, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA reported that Israeli forces on Tuesday had issued fresh evacuation orders for a section of Khan Yunis housing an estimated half a million residents and displaced people.
The concept was controversial: a pop-up bar offering bellinis and spritzes that, while non-alcoholic, were served in chilled cocktail glasses in the capital of teetotalling Saudi Arabia.
But although customers were initially wary of the experiment -– which coincided with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a time of fasting and forbearance -– the bar ended up doing brisk business.
Its success highlights widening acceptance of more daring non-alcoholic fare even as booze itself remains strictly off-limits in the Gulf kingdom, home to Islam's holiest sites.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that he and visiting Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi agreed on the need to avert the Israel-Hamas war from engulfing the entire Middle East region.
But Raisi countered that it was important for all countries to cut off trade with Israel -- an apparent reference to Turkey's steadfast refusal to do so that underscored tensions in Ankara's ties with Tehran.
US President Joe Biden's Middle East envoy held talks in the region Tuesday as hopes rose for a new deal to free Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a longer pause in fighting in Gaza.
The White House said it would support a pause that was longer than the week-long halt in November, as it confirmed that Brett McGurk was in Egypt for discussions and would visit other key countries.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a mounting crisis after Israel's worst day of troop losses in the Gaza war as well as growing protests over his failure to bring hostages back.
The military's strategy in the Palestinian territory is under intense scrutiny following the death of 24 troops on Monday, Israel's biggest one-day loss since its ground offensive in Gaza started in late October.
Among those killed were 21 reservists, who died in a single incident.
Syria made history by following Uzbekistan into the Asian Cup knockout rounds on Tuesday -- confirming China's exit at the first hurdle.
Omar Khribin was Syria's hero in Doha, his 76th-minute goal the difference in a 1-0 victory over Igor Stimac's India.
It is Syria's first time into the knockout rounds of the Asian Cup.
Australia topped Group B following a 1-1 draw with Uzbekistan, Hector Cuper's Syria going through to the last 16 with those two teams as one of the best third-placed teams.
Two teenage would-be migrants from Tunisia died after hiding in a refrigerated container on a ship travelling to Europe, the country's civil protection department said on Tuesday.
"Two people aged 16 and 17 died after infiltrating a container transporting fruit and vegetables on a ship that was heading to a European country," Mounir Riabi, the director of civil protection for the Tunis region, told AFP.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned Iran-backed Huthis that Britain would stage new military action if the Yemeni rebels keep attacking shipping in the Red Sea.
"We are not seeking a confrontation," he told parliament hours after a second round of US-UK strikes.
"We urge the Huthis and those who enable them to stop these illegal and unacceptable attacks.
"But if necessary, the United Kingdom will not hesitate to respond in self-defence. We cannot stand by and allow these attacks to go unchallenged," Sunak added.
