EU envoy Enrique Mora said Friday he called for the release on "humanitarian grounds" of an Iranian-Swedish academic on death row, during a mission to Tehran to help revive Iran's 2015 nuclear pact.

Mora, the European Union's coordinator for talks between Iran and major world powers to restore the deal, met Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri, who is also deputy foreign minister, on Wednesday and Thursday, state media said.

Mora tweeted after his departure that he had raised the case of the academic, Ahmedreza Djalali.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan died Friday aged 73 after a years-long battle with illness, triggering a period of mourning and a handover of power in the oil-rich Gulf state.

Sheikh Khalifa, who was in office during a time of rocketing fortunes for the United Arab Emirates but was rarely seen in public, was laid to rest in Abu Dhabi's Al Bateen Cemetery just hours after his death was announced, in accordance with Muslim tradition.

Emirates airline announced a "significantly reduced" annual loss of $1.1 billion dollars on Friday, five times lower than a year before, as pandemic travel restrictions ease.

Losses came in at 3.9 billion dirhams ($1.1 billion) in the 2021-2022 financial year to March, with revenues up 91 percent, as the airline expanded its global capacity and reinstated flights, Emirates said in a statement.

The Middle East's largest carrier said it received a capital injection of $954 million from its owner, the government of Dubai, to help it survive the crisis.

Hundreds of people have taken to the streets in cities across Iran to protest the government's decision to raise the prices of essential goods, state media reported Friday.

Earlier this week, President Ebrahim Raisi announced a series of measures to tackle the country's economic woes, including changing a subsidy system and increasing the prices of several staples including cooking oil, chicken and eggs.

Israel bolstered security in Jerusalem ahead of the funeral on Friday of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, two days after she was killed during an Israeli army raid.

Israel and the Palestinians have traded blame over the fatal shooting of the 51-year-old Palestinian-American during clashes in the Jenin refugee camp.

The body of Abu Akleh, a Palestinian Christian born in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, was transferred to the holy city from the occupied West Bank.

Food delivery drivers have staged rare strikes in Dubai, a renowned temple of luxury where fuel prices have spiralled on the back of global inflation sparked by the Ukraine war.

The riders, all of whom are foreigners mostly from south Asia, are demanding better pay and have held two strikes this month in the energy-rich Gulf state where industrial action is rare.

"It is impossible to survive in Dubai on what we make," said a 28-year-old Pakistani driver, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Emirates airline announced a "significantly reduced" annual loss of $1.1 billion dollars on Friday, down from $5.5 billion a year earlier, as pandemic travel restrictions ease.

Losses came in at 3.9 billion dirhams ($1.1 billion) in the 2021-2022 financial year to March, with revenues up 91 percent, as the airline expanded its global capacity and reinstated flights, Emirates said in a statement.

The carrier said it received a capital injection of $954 million from its owner, the government of Dubai, to help it survive the crisis.

Syrian rebels killed 10 soldiers in northern Syria Friday, in the deadliest such attack since a truce deal reached over two years ago, a war monitor and state media said.

Nine soldiers were also wounded in the attack, Syria's official news agency SANA reported, quoting a military source.

"Around 9:30 this morning terrorists targeted an army bus" in the west of Aleppo province, SANA said, quoting the source.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had reported earlier on Friday that "pro-regime fighters" died in the assault.

Thousands of people packed Jerusalem's tense Old City on Friday for the burial of veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, after Israeli police stormed the start of the funeral procession.

Israel and the Palestinians have traded blame over the fatal shooting of the Palestinian-American on Wednesday during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank.

The interim findings of an Israeli army investigation could not determine who fired the bullet that killed Abu Akleh, the military said.

An Israeli officer was shot dead Friday during raids around Jenin on Friday, Israel's premier said, in the latest unrest to hit the flashpoint camp in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian health ministry said 13 Palestinians were also injured during the raids.

"Today we lost a real hero, Noam Raz -- a brave (army) fighter ... (during a) complex and sensitive operation against terrorists," Bennett said in a statement.

Police said he was injured in Burqin, near Jenin, during a "shootout with terrorists" and later died from his wounds.