The UN's top court said it would hand down its landmark ruling on Friday in the case against Israel over alleged genocide in Gaza, a verdict likely to be watched closely around the world.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague could potentially order Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza, sparked by the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7.

South Africa has hauled Israel before the court, alleging it stands in breach of the UN's Genocide Convention, signed in 1948 as the world's response to the Holocaust.

The United Arab Emirates and its powerful ruler were sued in a Washington court Wednesday, accused of bankrolling a "dark public relations" operation that falsely linked an American oil trader to terrorist financing.

The lawsuit filed by the trader Hazim Nada in the District of Columbia alleges that starting in 2017 the UAE paid a Swiss private intelligence firm, Alp Services, to "seriously damage" his reputation and business in a sweeping smear campaign.

Japan cruised into the Asian Cup last 16 on Wednesday and a possible date with South Korea, as already qualified Iraq came out on top in a five-goal thriller.

Ayase Ueda struck in each half to go with a late Indonesia own goal as pre-tournament favourites Japan won 3-1 to finish runners-up in Group D behind Iraq.

Japan will now face the winners of Group E -- South Korea's group.

Jurgen Klinsmann's South Korea are currently second on goal difference behind Jordan and face Malaysia in their final group match on Thursday.

International humanitarian and rights organisations on Wednesday called on countries to halt weapons transfers to Israel and Palestinian armed groups in a bid to end the Gaza conflict, or risk being complicit in possible war crimes.

In a joint statement, the 16 groups urged United Nations member states to stop sending weapons, parts and ammunition to "stop the crisis in Gaza and avert further humanitarian catastrophe and loss of civilian life."

The execution of the ninth man to be hanged over protests that swept Iran in 2022 marks a new stage in Tehran's rampant use of the death penalty, rights groups say.

The groups argue that Mohammad Ghobadlou had mental health issues and that his original death sentence had been overturned.

Ghobadlou, 23, was put to death early Tuesday in Ghezel Hesar prison in the city of Karaj outside Tehran.

He had been convicted over the death of a police officer who the authorities say was run over by a car during the protests in September 2022.

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.