A Jerusalem bishop said Wednesday he was "dismayed" by the desecration of dozens of Christian graves on the edge of the Old City, as police probed the vandalism.

Stone graves lay in pieces with crosses toppled at the Protestant cemetery on Mount Zion, where Christians believe Jesus's Last Supper took place.

"We discovered that more than 30 tombstones and crosses were smashed to pieces," Hosam Naoum, an Anglican bishop, told journalists at the cemetery.

Iraqi telecommunications worker Youssef Ahmed is married with a five-year-old son, but lives with his parents because he is unable to afford his own home amid soaring property prices.

"Even if your income increases, it will never be up to the exorbitant prices of houses or land", said 29-year-old Ahmed, who earns a "comfortable" monthly salary of $1,000, double the national average.

In oil-rich but corruption plagued Iraq, real estate has become a popular way to launder money, including stolen public funds.

Public anger has been growing for months in Egypt over a severe dollar crunch and soaring food prices. But for many a money-saving tip from a state body has been the last straw.

As families have struggled to purchase household staples, an Egyptian government agency praised an alternative, cheap protein source -- "chicken feet, good for the body and the budget".

The advice drew widespread scorn on social media while lawmaker Karim al-Sadat slammed it as "divorced from the reality of the crisis".

Iraq said Tuesday it had recovered another $2.6 million in public funds fraudulently withdrawn from a government account, but the money is still only a fraction of the $2.5 billion that disappeared.

The scandal, implicating businessmen and former high officials, has provoked widespread anger in Iraq. The country is oil-rich but ravaged by endemic corruption while plagued by unemployment and decaying infrastructure.

Judge Haider Hanoun, who heads the government's anti-corruption agency, said "the sum returned today... amounts to four billion Iraqi dinars" ($2.6 million).

Cristiano Ronaldo described himself as a "unique player" and insisted his career was not over as he arrived at his new club Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

The Portuguese forward, 37, has signed a huge deal estimated at 200 million euros ($211m) after glittering spells at Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.

"I'm a unique player. It's good to come here, I broke all the records there (in Europe) and I want to break a few records here," Ronaldo told media at Al Nassr's Mrsool Park stadium.

The killing of a top Iranian general three years ago in a US drone strike will be avenged, President Ebrahim Raisi vowed on Tuesday at a commemoration attended by thousands.

Then-US president Donald Trump ordered the strike which assassinated General Qassem Soleimani, 62, on January 3, 2020.

Turkey on Tuesday hosted the leaders of Syria's opposition in a bid to assuage their concern following its overtures to Damascus.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted images of his meeting in Ankara with the opposition Syrian National Council chief Mahmut al-Maslat and other leaders.

The talks came less than a week after the defence chiefs of Turkey and Syria held landmarks negotiations in Moscow -- the first such meeting since 2011.

Five months after the United States announced the killing of Al-Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan, the global jihadist group has still not confirmed his death or announced a new boss.

In early August, US President Joe Biden said US armed forces fired two missiles from a drone flying above the Afghan capital, striking al-Zawahiri's safe house and killing him.

French driver Guerlain Chicherit bounced back from five punctures on Monday to win Tuesday's third stage of the Dakar Rally which was shortened from 447 kilometres to 378km due to torrential rain.

The 44-year-old Prodrive driver timed 10 hours 56 minutes with South African Henk Lattegan finishing second, 3min 26sec off the pace. Argentinian Orlando Terranova posted the third fastest time, 5min 4sec adrift.

"It is wonderful," said Chicherit.

"Of course we are disappointed with what happened yesterday but we have proved what we can achieve if we stay focused."

Thousands of Kurds from across Europe travelled to the Paris suburbs Tuesday for the politically charged funeral of three of their own killed in a December attack in the French capital.

Buses were chartered to bring people from across France and some neighbouring countries to the ceremony in Villiers-le-Bel, north of Paris, local sources said.

Tears and cries of "Martyrs live forever!" greeted the coffins, wrapped in the flags of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Kurdish-controlled Rojava territory in northern Syria.