At least 10 soldiers were killed in renewed fighting in Yemen, military sources told AFP on Wednesday, despite diplomatic efforts to halt the long-running war in the Arab world's poorest country.

The clashes took place in oil-producing Marib province, one of the main battlegrounds and the scene of sporadic fighting even during a lull in hostilities over the past year.

Eight years of war have left hundreds of thousands dead, through direct and indirect causes, and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Gaza fisherman Jihad al-Hissi is used to rough waters but he now faces a new storm. An Israeli court may seize his boat after he breached the limits of the enclave's fishing zone.

The issue is crucial for thousands in the blockaded Palestinian territory of 2.3 million people, where fishing in the Mediterranean Sea remains one of the few economic lifelines.

Hissi, 55, with square shoulders and a scruffy beard, told his story at Gaza's dock early one morning as fishermen sold their overnight catch of sea bream, prawns and sardines.

Mohammad Javad enters a fashionable shop in well-to-do north Tehran with his mother. For the first time ever he wants a necktie, long banned in Iran as a symbol of Western decadence.

The 27-year-old dentist said he opted for this clothing accessory in hopes of looking his best during the first meeting with his future in-laws.

"In our society, wearing a tie is like wearing a mask before Covid-19 hit," he said as the salesman adjusted his suit. "People would look at you differently because the negative view still remains.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged Tuesday to step up the flow of water along the Tigris River to drought-stricken Iraq for one month.

Baghdad accuses Ankara of withholding water in dams that choke the Tigris and Euphrates rivers near their point of origin in Turkey.

The issue has gained added urgency as the entire region is gripped by a years-long drought that has emptied water reservoirs and threatened food security for millions of people.

Israel's settler movement celebrated Tuesday after parliament annulled part of a law banning them from living in areas of the occupied West Bank the government evacuated in 2005.

That year the government of Ariel Sharon oversaw a unilateral withdrawal by Israel from the Gaza Strip, and the removal of Jewish settlers from the Palestinian enclave and four settlements in the northern West Bank.

Thousands of angry Kurds rallied in rebel-held northern Syria on Tuesday after pro-Turkish fighters killed four fellow Kurds who were celebrating their Nowruz new year festival, an AFP correspondent reported.

"They killed my children for no reason," Kuli Maho, 70, told AFP as she wept for her three sons and grandson.

Some people waved Kurdish flags as they gathered for the funeral procession in the border town of Jindayris and neighbouring villages in Aleppo province, an area that was badly affected by last month's devastating earthquake.

Israel's settler movement celebrated Tuesday after parliament annulled part of a law banning them from residing in areas of the occupied West Bank the then Israeli government evacuated in 2005.

That year the government of Ariel Sharon, a long-time settler champion turned peacemaker, oversaw a unilateral withdrawal by Israel from the Gaza Strip, and the removal of Jewish settlers from the Palestinian enclave and four settlements in the northern West Bank.

Italy left a deep cultural mark on Libya, the only Arab country it colonised: a national love of espresso. But as the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan approaches, Libyans are preparing to go without.

Throughout the Islamic holy month, which is due to begin this week, observant Muslims everywhere are expected to refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk.

During Ramadan, "we spend the whole day dreaming about the coffee we're going to drink", said Abdel Basset Hamza, a shopowner in Tripoli's Old City.

A US citizen sentenced to 19 years in a Saudi prison for social media posts criticising the kingdom's rulers has been released, his son told AFP on Tuesday.

Saad Ibrahim Almadi, a 72-year-old of Saudi origin, was arrested in 2021 for what his son, Ibrahim, described as "mild" Twitter posts on topics including the war in Yemen and the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Last October, a court handed Almadi a term of 16 years behind bars, which last month was lengthened to 19 years before his surprise release on Tuesday, Ibrahim said.

Egypt's fertile Nile Delta may not be the obvious destination for field hockey, but a women's team is blazing a trail in a region that lays claim to the sport's ancient roots.

While hockey may never sell out stadiums in football-mad Egypt, 24-year-old forward Donia Shaarawy says the governorate of Sharqiya has become the country's hockey hub, and a potential launchpad for her dreams of going pro.

"Hockey means Sharqiya, that's how we grew up," she told AFP, hopping off the practice field clad in a black jersey and matching hijab.