Family members and colleagues of slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh told UN investigators Thursday she had been deliberately targeted as part of Israel's "wide-scale war" on Palestinian media workers.

The killing of the veteran Al Jazeera reporter, who was wearing a bulletproof vest marked "Press" and a helmet when she was shot in the head during an army operation in Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on May 11, is the subject of one of the first in a series of rare public hearings at the UN.

Family members and colleagues of slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh told UN investigators Thursday she had been deliberately targeted as part of Israel's "wide-scale war" on Palestinian media workers.

The killing of the veteran Al Jazeera reporter, who was wearing a bulletproof vest marked "Press" and a helmet when she was shot in the head during an army operation in Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on May 11, is the subject of one of the first in a series of rare public hearings at the UN.

Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate on Thursday urged US President Joe Biden to help those most affected by the ravages of global warming, a day before his arrival for UN climate talks in Egypt.

Nakate, a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations' children's fund UNICEF, urged Biden to listen to climate science and those "on the frontlines of this crisis".

She also called for fossil fuels to be phased out and funding to help vulnerable countries cope with accelerating climate impacts.

With the World Cup just days away, the Premier League pauses after this weekend's action, leaving international managers a bag of nerves as they anxiously await fitness reports on their stars.

However, there is still plenty at stake for top-flight teams before their players jet off to Qatar, with Newcastle hoping to consolidate their position in the top four and Arsenal eyeing title reinforcements.

World Cup injury fears

All eyes will be on fitness bulletins from across the Premier League in the last matches before the World Cup shutdown.

The Ukraine war has shown the heavy toll military conflict takes not just on people but also on the planet, say experts at the UN climate summit in Egypt.

From the emissions caused by diesel-powered tanks, fighter jets and missile blasts to urban and forest fires and massive waves of refugees, the conflict has also spewed out huge amounts of greenhouse gases.

"This is a field of significant emissions and nobody has really dealt with this problem," said Axel Michaelowa, head of the University of Zurich's International Climate Policy research group.

Qatar has agreed to allow special direct flights from Israel that will be open to both Israeli and Palestinian fans for the World Cup, FIFA announced on Thursday.

But the accord gave few details on how decades of hostility would be overcome so that Palestinians and Israelis can travel on the same charter jets to the first World Cup in an Arab nation.

"Today's historic announcement provides a platform to improve relations across the Middle East," said Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, world football's governing body.

Qatar on Thursday opened a huge expansion of its main international airport as the national carrier's chief hit back at "rumours" that it could not cope with World Cup passengers.

After the multi-billion dollar overhaul, Hamad International Airport will take its capacity from 40 million passengers a year to 58 million, Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker told a news conference.

The expansion adds 39 airport gates to the existing 140 at the airport, which is a major hub for transit passengers.

Russia's war in Ukraine has forced a short-term scramble for fossil fuels but the rise of solar, wind and other clean energies is "unstoppable", the head of International Renewable Energy Agency told AFP.

Speaking at the UN COP27 climate summit in Egypt, Francesco La Camera said market forces now all but ensure renewables will keep growing fast -- but also warned that the pace will need to double to prevent a climate catastrophe.

A sister of Egypt's jailed dissident Alaa Abdel Fattah quickly disputed a claim by the prosecutor Thursday that the hunger striker was in "good health," as fear mounts that he is being force-fed.

Relatives have repeatedly demanded information on the health of the British-Egyptian activist in recent days, after he escalated his months-long hunger strike and stopped even drinking water as the COP27 climate summit opened in the North African nation on Sunday.

Fossil fuel lobbyists have flooded UN climate talks in Egypt, a report by watchdog groups said Thursday, even as calls grow at the summit for a windfall tax on oil majors' bumper profits.

More than 600 lobbyists from some of the world's biggest polluters have registered to the climate talks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, up 25 percent from last year, the analysis by groups including Global Witness and Corporate Accountability found.

That is more than the number of representatives from the 10 most climate-affected countries combined, they said.