Qatar's emir named his top diplomat as prime minister Tuesday and brought in a new interior minister in what observers called the completion of a changing of the guard in the wealthy Gulf state.

The ruler's office announced that Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani had accepted "the resignation" of prime minister and interior minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani.

Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was named as the new head of government and was sworn-in within hours of the change, state media reported.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said Tuesday he hoped to "strengthen and broaden" relations with Iraq, on a Baghdad visit ahead of the 20th anniversary of the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Defense Secretary Austin also told Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani that US troops were "ready to remain" in the country at Baghdad's invitation, a thorny issue that has divided public opinion in both countries.

Israeli warplanes struck Aleppo airport before dawn Tuesday, causing significant damage that halted flights to and from Syria's war- and quake-battered second city, the defence ministry said.

The airport has been a major conduit for aid flights since a February 6 earthquake devastated swathes of southeastern Turkey and neighbouring Syria, and they too were brought to a stop, a transport ministry official said.

Wandering Baghdad's legendary book street, recently renovated, the UN's cultural chief pledged on Monday firm support for the rebuilding of Iraq, whose rich heritage has been ravaged by conflict.

Years of war and insurgency have taken a heavy toll on the many Mesopotamian, Islamic and Christian treasures in a country home to six UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Iraq is the cradle of civilisations, where writing and the first cities emerged, but decades of unrest have left many priceless cultural treasures damaged or obliterated.

Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah group endorsed Monday a presidential candidate, in a move unlikely to resolve a deadlock that has left the crisis-hit country for months without a head of state.

"The candidate we support... is Sleiman Frangieh," Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said during a televised speech.

The Iran-backed Shiite movement holds huge sway over political life in Lebanon, but opposition from the country's two main Christian parties means pro-Syrian Frangieh lacks a clear path to majority backing in the divided parliament.

Archaeologists in Egypt have unearthed a sphinx statue "with a smiley face and two dimples" near the Hathor Temple, one of the country's best preserved ancient sites, the tourism and antiquities ministry announced Monday.

It is the latest in a series of discoveries revealed over the past few months.

The limestone artefact, believed to be a stylised representation of an ancient Roman emperor, was found inside a two-level tomb near the temple in southern Egypt, the ministry said in a statement.

At the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem's walled Old City, a Palestinian teenager is stopped and searched by an Israeli policeman as two other officers stand guard with rifles, before letting him go.

It is a common sight in east Jerusalem, a Palestinian area annexed by Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War, where security forces say they must be ever vigilant to thwart attacks amid a surge in violence.

In recent weeks, several bloody attacks targeting Israelis have been carried out by Palestinian teenagers armed with knives and guns.

A Lebanese judge has summoned central bank governor Riad Salameh for questioning next week, a judicial official said Monday, as the crisis-hit country advances an embezzlement probe parallel to European investigations.

Salameh's brother Raja and former assistant Marianne Hoayek have also been summoned in the domestic probe launched in 2021, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to discuss the matter with the media.

Buyuknacar was a picturesque village perched high in the mountains of southern Turkey until it was effectively wiped off the map by a catastrophic earthquake that killed tens of thousands a month ago.

Little is still standing in the settlement that was home to 2,000 people before the 7.8-magnitude struck on February 6, its epicentre just 26 kilometres (16 miles) to the south.

The tremor and its aftershocks claimed more than 45,000 lives in Turkey and 5,000 in neighbouring Syria.

She could have left Iran, as many of her contemporaries did, but Paris-trained pastry chef Shahrzad Shokouhivand decided to stay and work to make women's lives better inside the country.

And the icing on the cake? She and her husband now employ 70 people -- mostly women.

"It's only by working here that we'll change things in Iran," said the 36-year-old, speaking to AFP in one of her two chic cafe-pastry shops in Tehran.

She and her husband do admit that at one stage they thought of leaving the Islamic republic, choosing the path of exile.