Scorching weather gripped three continents on Sunday, whipping up wildfires and threatening to topple temperature records as the dire consequences of global warming take shape.

Predictions of historic heat hung over swathes of Asia, Europe and the United States.

In the Vatican, 15,000 people braved sweltering temperatures to hear Pope Francis lead prayer, using parasols and fans to keep cool.

But in their black robes, priests like Francois Mbemba said they were "sweating like hell".

An oppressive heat beats down on the central Iraqi province of Babylon, where drought and rising temperatures are hitting bees and honey production hard.

Beekeeper Mohamed Aliawi knows it all too well as he checks on dozens of hive boxes placed at the feet of tall palm trees in the fields of Al-Reghila village.

"There is no water and therefore no (flowering) plants to keep the bees satisfied," Aliawi, the deputy director of a local apiarist association, told AFP.

Among meandering alleyways in the historic market of Lebanon's southern city of Sidon, cobblers and menders are doing brisk business, as an economic crisis revives demand for once-fading trades.

At Ahmed al-Bizri's shoe repair store, nestled among old stone arches and a crowded warren of shops and stalls, workers are busy adjusting a woman's sandals and replacing the worn-out sole of a man's shoe.

"Repairs are in high demand," said Bizri, 48, who learned the trade from his father.

Tens of thousands of Israeli protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv and elsewhere Saturday protesting reforms advanced by the coalition they say threaten the country's democratic character.

Saturday's rallies, the 28th since the reform agenda was unveiled in January, come days after parliament approved in its first reading a bill that would reduce the "reasonability" clause, through which the judiciary can strike down government decisions.

The proposals would also give the government a greater say in the appointment of judges.

Tearful Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur on Saturday described her third defeat in a Grand Slam final as the "most painful" of her career but vowed to bounce back and break her jinx at the majors.

World number six Jabeur was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by unseeded Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, one year after she lost the Wimbledon final to Elena Rybakina.

More pain followed at the US Open later in the year where she was runner-up again, this time to Iga Swiatek.

The United Arab Emirates and India vowed on Saturday to make this year's COP28 conference in Dubai a success, as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a visit to the Gulf state.

The oil-rich UAE will host the COP28 United Nations climate talks in November and December, as world nations remain far apart on means to reduce fossil fuels and reduce global warming.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday he felt "very well" after being admitted to hospital for dizziness, with his office saying the politically and legally beleaguered 73-year-old had likely been dehydrated.

Netanyahu had been rushed to Sheba medical centre in the afternoon, his office said of Israel's largest hospital, located near Tel Aviv, noting he was in "good condition and undergoing medical evaluations".

Later his office said Netanyahu had on Friday spent time in the scorching heat of the Sea of Galilee, in Israel's north.

Marketa Vondrousova became the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon in the Open era as the Czech swept to a shock 6-4, 6-4 victory over Tunisia's Ons Jabeur in Saturday's final.

As the first unseeded woman in the Wimbledon final in 60 years, Vondrousova was a heavy underdog against sixth-ranked Jabeur.

But the 24-year-old upset the odds on Centre Court to win her maiden Grand Slam title at the second attempt after losing to Ash Barty in the 2019 French Open final.

Sudanese army representatives have returned to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia for talks with their paramilitary foes, a government source said Saturday as the war between rival generals entered its fourth month.

"A delegation of the armed forces has returned to Jeddah to resume negotiations with Rapid Support Forces (RSF) rebels," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to media.

At a sporting club in Tunis, young girls enthusiastically hit yellow tennis balls across the court in the hope of one day making it to Wimbledon, like their idol Ons Jabeur.

As the tennis star tried but failed for a third time to become the first African or Arab woman to win a Grand Slam singles title on Saturday, a tournament took place at the Tennis Club of Tunis in the Alain Savary neighbourhood, near the centre of the Tunisian capital.