The crash landing on the Moon of Russia's Luna-25 probe is the latest twist in an international push to return to the Earth's natural satellite that has drawn in the world's top powers and new players.

Technology, science and politics are all essential factors in the Moon race.

Here is the latest on various missions:

- Russia's Luna -

The launch of Luna-25 on August 11 was the first such Russian mission in almost 50 years and marked the beginning of Moscow's new lunar project.

Tunisia and Libya agreed Thursday to share responsibility for providing shelter for hundreds of migrants stranded for up to a month at their border, after dozens died in the desert.

The migrants, primarily from sub-Saharan African countries, had been driven to the remote desert area of Ras Jedir by Tunisian authorities and left there to fend for themselves, according to witnesses, rights groups and UN agencies.

Aid groups said three groups of about 300 migrants in total from sub-Saharan African countries remain stranded there in life-threatening conditions.

Lebanon's Hezbollah movement on Thursday buried one of its members who was killed a day earlier when a truck carrying ammunition belonging to the Iran-backed group overturned near Beirut, sparking clashes.

Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Ahmad Ali Kassas in Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, an AFP photographer said, adding that heavy gunfire rang out during the procession.

The office of Lebanon's Defence Minister Maurice Slim said a bullet hit the minister's car as it passed through a district near the area, without harming him.

In the scorching summer heat, an Israeli farmer tends to a dripline taking a mix of ground and recycled water to palm trees -- an approach honed for decades in the arid country and now drawing wide interest abroad.

At the plantation in a desert near Eilat, a coastal holiday resort on Israel's southern tip, the mineral-rich water passes through a plastic tube, nourishing the dates high above.

The Saudi Pro League kicks off on Friday amid unprecedented attention on Saudi football following a year of high-profile transfers and growing accusations of "sportswashing".

Clubs in the oil-rich Gulf state have lured global stars, with Karim Benzema, Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane among those following in Cristiano Ronaldo's footsteps.

Last month Al-Hilal made a 300-million-euro ($328 million) bid for Kylian Mbappe, though the Paris Saint-Germain striker reportedly refused to meet with officials from the club.

Iraq's rising temperatures and protracted drought are a "wake-up call" for the world, United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said in Baghdad on Wednesday.

Turk spoke to AFP during a visit to Iraq, which the UN says is one of the five countries in the world most touched by some effects of climate change.

Iraq has been experiencing its fourth consecutive summer of drought, and temperatures in parts of the country including the capital Baghdad, and in the far south, have been around 50 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit).

Even in a country which regularly holds the world record for jailing journalists, the case of Turkish investigative reporter Baris Pehlivan stands out.

Pehlivan -- whose latest book accused Turkey's last interior minister of having links with organised crime -- is about to be locked up for the fifth time in three years.

Having been jailed, released on parole and locked up again, this time Pehlivan has been ordered back behind bars by text message.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Wednesday that the biggest obstacle to millions of refugees returning home is a lack of infrastructure, devastated by more than a decade of civil war.

The Syria conflict has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and battered the country's infrastructure and industry since it began in 2011 with the government's repression of peaceful anti-government protests.

Saudi Arabia has emerged as a force in the football transfer market this year, offering eye-watering salaries that have lured a host of big names to the oil-rich Gulf kingdom.

Here, AFP Sport takes a look at some of the biggest names to make the move:

The stars

Cristiano Ronaldo's arrival in January to play for Riyadh-based Al-Nassr is what first drew global attention to ongoing efforts to boost the Saudi Pro League.

The United Nations says it will resume aid deliveries to rebel-held areas of northern Syria via Turkey after reaching agreement with Damascus -- a deal that raises concerns among relief groups who want Syrian authorities kept out of the process.

Under a 2014 agreement, most international aid had passed through the Bab al-Hawa crossing from Turkey without the authorization of Damascus.