Iraq's Tigris and Euphrates rivers have witnessed a sharp decrease in their levels in the south of the country, officials said Sunday, pledging to take urgent measures to ease water shortages.

In Nasiriyah, capital of the southern province of Dhi Qar, an AFP photographer saw the river bed of the mighty Euphrates dry in patches.

The water ministry blamed the situation in some southern provinces on "the low quantity of water reaching Iraq from neighbouring Turkey".

"This has triggered a sharp drop in the country's water reserves," it said in a statement.

For species classified as "extinct in the wild", the zoos and botanical gardens where their fates hang by a thread are as often anterooms to oblivion as gateways to recovery, new research has shown.

Re-wilding what are often single-digit populations faces the same challenges that pushed these species to the cusp of extinction in the first place, including a lack of genetic diversity. But without conservation efforts, experts say, chances of these species surviving would be even smaller.

The sound of an electric saw rips through a lush mountain landscape in southern Yemen, where years of conflict and soaring prices have left people desperate for fuel and income.

"We started cutting trees and selling them because we have no other way of making a living," said Hussein Abdulqawi from a thinning forest on the outskirts of Taez.

He and other workers lugged freshly cut wood into the back of a van near the city, which is besieged by rebels but still under government control.

The home of a Palestinian man behind a fatal attack on Israelis is to be demolished by Israeli authorities, even though it was built with compensation paid to them after one of their relatives was killed by an Israeli.

The entrances to the east Jerusalem home of Fatima Alqam, her husband Moussa and four children were sealed within days after her 21-year-old son killed seven people outside a synagogue in the settlement of Neve Yaacov.

Flag-waving Israelis gathered in a massive protest for the eighth straight week on Saturday to press their opposition to government legal reforms critics see as a threat to democracy.

Israeli media reported the crowds were again in the tens of thousands, after lawmakers this week took a step towards approving the reforms which are a cornerstone of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's latest administration, which took office in December.

Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, made coalition deals to form the most right-wing government in the history of Israel.

Barbora Krejcikova defeated Iga Swiatek to claim the Dubai WTA title on Saturday, becoming just the fourth woman this century to defeat the top three players in the world at the same tournament

For former French Open champion Krejcikova, ranked 30 in the world, it was a sixth career title.

The 27-year-old Czech snapped world number one Swiatek's six-match, 12-set winning streak with a 6-4, 6-2 result in one hour and 31 minutes, in front of a capacity crowd at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis stadium.

When Israel conducted its deadliest raid in the occupied West Bank in almost two decades this week, a young Palestinian nurse rushed to help.

As critical case after critical case succumbed to their wounds, Elias al-Ashqar, 25, let out a blood-curdling roar.

"My father! My father," he screamed, as he realised his dad was among the 11 people killed in the raid on the flashpoint city of Nablus.

"I was on my regular shift in the hospital on Wednesday morning. I was busy with a group of medical students from An-Najah University," Ashqar told AFP.

A Qatari businesswoman has turned heads at the Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition, pitting herself against giants of the industry while also bucking trends in the conservative country.

Noora al-Ansari -- a Qatari woman running her own company and dealing with customers herself -- is a rarity in the wealthy Gulf state, where a growing number of women work but few have made their name in business.

Since opening her first Papillon store in the capital Doha, she said customers have been curious about her nationality.

Former world number one Andy Murray was at a loss to explain how he saved five match points Friday to overcome Czech challenger Jiri Lehecka and reach the Qatar Open final.

The 35-year-old launched into a roar of delight after the 6-0, 3-6, 7-6 (8/6) triumph that took him into his first ATP tour final for eight months.

Murray now has to take on Russian world number eight Daniil Medvedev who beat Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 7-6 (9/7) in the second semi-final.

"That was one of the most amazing turnarounds of my career," said Murray, a two-time winner in Qatar.

Only a bold and ambitious UN treaty with sweeping reforms of the entire plastic life cycle can stem the world's waste crisis, experts said Monday.

Even if measures thought to have the greatest potential for reducing plastic consumption are implemented, they would still fail to prevent a substantial rise in plastics production and use, they warned in a report.

A year ago 175 nations agreed to end plastic pollution by crafting a binding UN treaty, which could come into being as soon as the end of 2024.