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.

A Tunisian court has dropped a long-running, symbolic case against a gay rights activist who faced prison for alleged homosexual acts, a court official and a rights group said.

The appeals court in the central city of Kairouan ruled that the case against activist "Daniel" was null and void, rights group Damj said.

"It's a victory for Daniel and a victory for us," the group told AFP.

Court spokesman Riadh Ben Halima confirmed the ruling, saying it was on the basis of "procedural irregularities, as police had searched his computer without a warrant".

Iraq's oil revenues in 2022 exceeded $115 billion, according to preliminary figures announced by the oil ministry on Tuesday -- a four-year high following a collapse in prices during the coronavirus pandemic.

Oil production accounts for some 90 percent of Baghdad's income, and the country is the second largest producer within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

"The total revenue from the export of crude oil for the year 2022 amounts to more than $115 billion," Minister for Oil Hayan Abdel-Ghani said in a statement.

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

The Portuguese superstar, 37, said he had done all he could in Europe and was hungry for a new challenge as he was greeted by fireworks and deafening roars at Al Nassr's Mrsool Park stadium.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner, with five Champions League titles to his name, signed for an estimated 200 million euros to June 2025 not long after his acrimonious split with Manchester United.

The United Nations and the United States led a chorus of international criticism of a visit by Israel's extreme-right new national security minister to Jerusalem's super-sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Tuesday.

The move by firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir angered the Palestinians and US allies in the Arab world, while Western governments warned such moves threaten the fragile status quo at Jerusalem's holy sites.

Younis al-Shaer left Gaza dreaming of a better life in Europe, only to return to the Palestinian enclave in a coffin.

The 21-year-old was one of scores of Palestinians risking the perilous journey across the Mediterranean.

He drowned alongside seven other Gazans, whose bodies were returned home in December, adding to a toll of nearly 2,000 people recorded as dead or missing last year in the Mediterranean by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).

The death hit his mother Samira al-Shaer like an "earthquake", she told AFP at the family home in Rafah, southern Gaza.

Unwanted by Europe's elite clubs, Cristiano Ronaldo's steep decline has been laid bare by a move to Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr that signals the end of his reign as one of football's most feared strikers.

Ronaldo will be officially unveiled by Al Nassr on Tuesday after agreeing a contract that runs until 2025 and is reportedly worth more than 200 million euros.

But the riches and fanfare that await the 37-year-old in Saudi Arabia are at odds with his reduced status as a fallen star trading on past heroics.

Al Nassr's surprise capture of football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is the latest in a string of high-profile sports acquisitions by oil-rich Saudi Arabia.

The conservative Gulf monarchy, often criticised over its human rights record, is attempting to burnish its image and attract foreign interest as it diversifies its economy away from oil.

Here are some of the moves that have turned Saudi Arabia into a major player in sports:

- Winter sports -

Two Iranian teenagers face the death penalty after being sentenced to be hanged over involvement in protests that have rocked the Islamic republic for months, a rights group said Monday.

Two men aged 23 have already been executed over the protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini but campaigners fear dozens more risk being hanged as Iran uses capital punishment as an intimidation tactic in a bid to quell the protests.