Israel and the United States blamed Iran Wednesday after what they said was a drone strike against a tanker operated by an Israeli-owned firm carrying gas oil off the coast of Oman.

The Pacific Zircon was "hit by a projectile approximately 150 miles off the coast of Oman" on Tuesday, Singapore-based firm Eastern Pacific Shipping which operates the vessel said in a statement, adding that there were no reports of casualties or any leakage of the cargo.

Hundreds of thousands of people have flocked to Qatar in recent years to work on giant construction schemes as it boosted its infrastructure ahead of the World Cup.

Drawn by the prospect of making more money than they could ever hope to at home, migrants make up nearly 90 percent of Qatar's population of 2.8 million.

Most come from the Indian subcontinent and the Philippines. Others hail from African nations including Kenya and Uganda.

The Gulf state has faced harsh criticism over deaths, injuries, and unpaid wages of foreign labourers.

In the deserts of northern Qatar, children with a falcon perched on gloves on their left arms show off their hunting birds in a bid to preserve an age-old tradition.

These "Little Falconers" have gathered in a tent ahead of the football World Cup in the gas-rich Gulf emirate, in a bid to introduce visitors to a practice inherited from their forefathers.

"This is my first participation in the competition," says 11-year-old Breik al-Marri, dressed in flowing white robes beside his falcon Gasham, a leather hood obstructing the bird's view.

A fleet of luxurious yachts bobbing in the harbour are among the five-star options as Dubai pulls out all the stops for well-heeled football fans who want to watch the World Cup in style.

Those without tickets but with thousands of dollars to spare can view games on a big screen from the top deck of a $20,000-a-night yacht, against a backdrop of the Gulf financial hub's skyline.

UN climate talks got a boost Wednesday after Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva vowed to fight Amazon deforestation and global leaders reaffirmed key pledges.

While G20 leaders meeting in Indonesia issued a final communique committing to pursue the more ambitious limits on global heating, action on the sidelines of fraught COP27 negotiations in Egypt generated momentum at the UN climate conference.

Delegates at COP27 representing Indigenous communities -- some of the world's most vulnerable to the climate crisis -- have used traditional clothing to draw attention to their plight and urge action.

As Indigenous "communities are not the focus of discussions" at the UN climate summit in Egypt, Ninawa Huni Kui said it was important for him to visually represent his constituency as president of the Federation of Huni Kui Peoples in Brazil's Amazon basin.

Outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid said Tuesday Israeli soldiers "will not be interrogated" by the US' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

The veteran Al Jazeera reporter was shot and killed while covering an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank on May 11.

The Israeli army conceded on September 5 that one of its soldiers had likely shot Abu Akleh after mistaking her for a militant.

Democratic party lawmakers, rights groups and the Abu Akleh family have been pushing for a US-led inquiry.

Jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah has ended a months-long hunger strike, his family said Tuesday, after fears for his health grew and amid criticism of Cairo during the ongoing COP27 climate summit.

Abdel Fattah, who had consumed "only 100 calories a day" for seven months, had escalated his strike to all food and then stopped drinking water as the COP27 climate summit opened on November 6 in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

An Algerian court on Tuesday handed a 15-year prison sentence to the former head of state energy giant Sonatrach in a corruption case involving an Italian refinery, his lawyer said.

Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour had been on trial over the 2018 purchase of the Sicilian Augusta oil refinery, the latest ex-official in late president Abdelaziz Bouteflika's administration to be jailed for alleged corruption.

Facing a storm of European criticism ahead of the start of the World Cup, Qatar on Tuesday stepped up its diplomatic and media riposte which has included threatening "legal" action to defend its name.

Five days from the opening game, Qatar's chief World Cup organiser said attacks on the Gulf state had been launched because it "competed as equals and snatched" the World Cup from rival bidders. A senior member of the Qatar Football Association called European critics "the enemy".