Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah said an Israeli strike killed two affiliated medics in south Lebanon on Thursday in what it called a "blatant attack" on the first aid clinic where they worked.

"The Israeli enemy recently targeted a civil defence centre affiliated with the Islamic Health Committee in the town of Hanin, killing two martyrs," the group said in a statement.

"What happened is a blatant attack on a centre serving Lebanese citizens, providing relief and treating those wounded and injured in the ongoing Israeli aggression."

The past 12 months marked a grim year of suppression of human rights, with world leaders ignoring violations in Sudan and Gaza, and against marginalized groups like the Uyghurs, a monitor said Thursday.

In its world report for 2024, Human Rights Watch singled out "tremendous suffering" caused by the Israel-Hamas war, and the conflicts in Ukraine, Myanmar, Ethiopia and the Sahel region of Africa.

The bloodiest-ever Gaza war has raged since the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7.

A spate of attacks by Yemeni rebels on Red Sea shipping has disrupted the vital trade route, but experts say stopping them appears difficult at best -- and risky at worst.

Dozens of drone and missile attacks have been launched on ships by the Huthis, part of the Iran-backed "axis of resistance" reinvigorated by Israel's war on Hamas.

The rebels, who control large swathes of war-torn Yemen, are targeting supposedly Israel-linked ships passing through the Bab al-Mandeb strait, the Red Sea's southern gateway.

Bombed-out neighbourhoods, mass graves dug in the sand, spreading hunger and disease -- as the bloodiest ever Gaza war nears 100 days, besieged Palestinians have endured ever new horrors.

More than three months of relentless Israeli bombardment since the October 7 Hamas attack have taken a gruelling toll on Gaza's 2.4 million people, most of whom have had to flee their homes.

The world added 50 percent more renewable energy capacity in 2023 over the previous year but more is needed in the battle against climate change, the International Energy Agency said Thursday.

The increase was the fastest growth rate in the past two decades and the 22nd year in a row that renewable capacity additions set a new record, the Paris-based IEA said.

The rise was driven by China, the planet's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases but also what the IEA called "the world's renewables powerhouse".

Carlos Sainz benefited from race leader Yazeed Al-Rajhi's title-ending crash and Stephane Peterhansel breaking down in the desert, to take the provisional lead after the first part of the Dakar Rally sixth stage on Thursday.

The stage is an unprecedented two-day marathon around Shubaytah -- a 780km loop in the kingdom's vast Empty Quarter with more than 600km of specials for motorcycles and nearly 550km for cars.

Iran's navy seized a ship off Oman to retaliate for the "theft" of its oil from the same tanker last year by the United States, state media said Thursday.

The United States condemned what it called an "unlawful seizure" and demanded Iran "immediately release the ship and its crew".

The announcement came hours after a British navy maritime security agency said armed men boarded the Greek-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged St Nikolas off Oman and changed course towards Bandar-e Jask in Iran.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday the Israel-Hamas conflict was not "escalating" across the Middle East, while Israel pounded southern Gaza more than three months into the war.

As Blinken wrapped up a whistlestop tour of the region, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) heard arguments in a landmark case accusing Israel of breaching the United Nations Genocide Convention.

South Africa on Thursday accused Israel of breaching the UN Genocide Convention, arguing that even the deadly October 7 Hamas attack could not justify such alleged actions, as it launched a landmark case at the top UN court.

Pretoria has lodged an urgent appeal at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to force Israel to "immediately suspend" its military operations in Gaza.

Israel has dismissed the case as "atrocious" and "preposterous" and vowed to set out a robust defence on Friday.

Officials in Iraqi Kurdistan announced that an "explosive drone" targeting the international anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq was downed on Wednesday near Arbil airport, the latest such attack against foreign troops in the country.

The drone, launched in the evening "by outlaw militias, was shot down at the military base of the international coalition", the anti-terror service of the autonomous region announced.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-linked armed groups, claimed an attack at the airport on Wednesday evening.