The lawyer for a detained Greek member of the European Parliament on Tuesday said his client was "innocent" after she was charged with corruption in a probe into suspected bribes from World Cup host Qatar.

Belgium has charged four suspects including one of the vice presidents of the parliament, Greek socialist Eva Kaili, as part of an investigation into suspicions the Gulf nation has been handing out cash and gifts to influence EU policy debate, allegations Doha denies.

Two others were released after questioning.

French judges on Tuesday ordered prison terms for eight suspects charged in the harrowing 2016 terror attack in Nice, where a suspected Islamist attacker rammed his truck into a night-time crowd celebrating the July 14 national holiday.

Two men were sentenced to 18 years for helping Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian, prepare the attack that killed 86 people and injured over 450 during a four-minute rampage on a seafront embankment in the southern city before being shot dead by police.

An alleged former Libyan intelligence agent accused of making the bomb that blew up a Pan Am jet over Scotland in 1988, killing 270 people, appeared in a US court Monday to face charges for the deadliest-ever terror attack in Britain.

Abu Agila Mohammad Masud Kheir al-Marimi, who allegedly worked as an intelligence operative for the regime of Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi between 1973 and 2011, faces three counts related to the Lockerbie bombing.

Researchers in the northern Gaza Strip have unearthed dozens of Roman-era tombs at a site discovered earlier this year during construction work, the Palestinian enclave's Islamist rulers Hamas announced Monday.

Construction workers had uncovered 31 tombs near the town of Beit Lahia as work began in early 2022 on an Egyptian-funded residential project, part of reconstruction efforts after the 11-day war in May 2021 between Israel and armed groups in blockaded Gaza.

Only 11 months after she became a European Parliament vice president, Greek MEP Eva Kaili is at the heart of an alleged corruption scandal involving Qatar and the EU, a far cry from the days when she presented the news.

Kaili, 44, was the highest-profile target remanded in custody on Sunday over allegations of bribery by World Cup host Qatar, after investigators found "bags of cash" at her home.

The socialist MEP had her powers as a vice president suspended on Saturday over the claims, following her arrest the day before.

Leaders of the EU Parliament accused foreign powers on Monday of trying to corrupt European democracy, as a probe into alleged bribes from World Cup host Qatar widened.

Belgian investigators, meanwhile raided offices in the parliament's Brussels base, seeking to seize computer data to track the alleged web of corruption.

One of the vice presidents of the parliament, Greek socialist MEP Eva Kaili, has been charged with "criminal organisation, corruption and money laundering".

Embattled South African President Cyril Ramaphosa faces a decisive week as a scandal hangs over his future, with an impeachment vote on Tuesday preceding a key ruling party conference.

Ramaphosa, who was championed as a graft-busting saviour after the corruption-tainted tenure of predecessor Jacob Zuma, has been marred by accusations that he attempted to cover up a huge cash theft at his luxury farm.

Israel said Monday its forces unintentionally shot dead a Palestinian girl during a raid in Jenin, a flashpoint city in the occupied West Bank where dozens of Palestinians including local fighters have been killed in recent months.

Israel's army said it came under fire during an operation late Sunday to arrest three people "suspected of terror involvement".

"The girl who was killed was hit by unintentional fire aimed at armed gunmen on a roof in the area from which the force was fired upon," an army statement said, adding that no troops were hurt.

Iran on Monday executed a second man in connection with protests that have shaken the regime for months, defying an international outcry over its use of capital punishment against those involved in the movement.

Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, had been sentenced to death by a court in the city of Mashhad for killing two members of the security forces with a knife, and wounding four other people, the judiciary's Mizan Online news agency reported.

It said he was hanged in public in the city, rather than inside prison.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Sunday that it was imperative the Kremlin "clear" Kurdish forces from northern Syria.

Erdogan has been threatening to launch a new incursion into northern Syria to push out Kurdish forces he blames for a November bomb blast that killed six people in Istanbul.

A 2019 agreement between Moscow and Ankara ended another offensive by setting up a 30-kilometre (19-mile) "safe zone" to protect Turkey against cross-border attacks from Syrian territory.