In past weeks, the story of an Egyptian pop star admitted into a rehabilitation facility has spilled beyond celebrity gossip, and sparked new debate on women's rights in the conservative country.

Sherine Abdel Wahab has long been a darling of Arab pop, but recent events have earned her the title of Egypt's Britney Spears -- not for her musical talent but because of her family's efforts to portray her as unfit to manage her own affairs.

A decade of appalling civil war has left Syria fragmented and in ruins but one thing crosses every front line: a drug called captagon.

The stimulant -- once notorious for its association with Islamic State fighters -- has spawned an illegal $10 billion industry that not only props up the pariah regime of President Bashar al-Assad, but many of his enemies.

It has turned Syria into the world's latest narco state, and sunk deep roots in neighbouring Lebanon as its economy has collapsed.

Pope Francis, leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics, flies Thursday to the Gulf state of Bahrain to foster ties with Islam in a voyage overshadowed by criticism of human rights abuses.

The second voyage by a pope to the Arabian Peninsula after Francis' 2019 trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is similarly aimed at encouraging interfaith dialogue between Muslims and Christians, and will include the pontiff leading a prayer for peace at a vast modern cathedral opened last year.

Qatar has rejected calls for a new compensation fund for migrant workers killed or injured on its mega projects for the football World Cup, with the country's labour minister calling it a "publicity stunt".

Labour Minister Ali bin Samikh Al Marri told AFP that Qatar is already handing out hundreds of millions of dollars for unpaid wages, and accused the Gulf state's critics of "racism".

Qatar already has a fund to deal with worker deaths and injuries, and Marri said groups criticising his country should help "strengthen" it.

US climate envoy John Kerry said Wednesday he expects bold new action by Mexico and Brazil's next government, raising hopes of achieving progress at this month's global warming summit in Egypt.

Kerry also gave his firmest indication yet that the United States was willing to engage on compensating poor nations that have already been hit hard by climate change, set to be a major agenda item at the talks known as COP27.

The new United Nations rights chief voiced deep concerns Wednesday over a swelling "pushback" on women's rights across much of the world.

During his first press conference as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk said he was deeply worried to see rises in misogynistic attitudes and efforts to reverse the rights of women and girls in many countries.

There has been "a real pushback, and that's very worrying and it affects women and girls in many parts of the world in a way that is unparallelled," he told reporters.

Vice President Kamala Harris vowed Wednesday that the United States would work to remove Iran from a UN body on women's rights as she saluted the "bravery" of women-led protests against the clerical state.

Harris said that the United States would work with other nations to oust Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women, whose members are elected to four-year terms.

"Iran has demonstrated through its denial of women's rights and brutal crackdown on its own people that it is unfit to serve on this Commission," Harris said in a statement.

Syria's top diplomat on Wednesday reaffirmed his country's support for Iran as he visited the Islamic republic, which has been rocked by weeks of protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.

The 22-year-old died in custody on September 16, three days after her arrest in Tehran for an alleged breach of Iran's strict dress rules for women.

Dozens of people, mainly demonstrators but also members of the security forces, have been killed in nationwide protests. Hundreds more, including women, have been arrested.

Arab leaders on Wednesday vowed their "total support" for the Palestinian cause, as veteran Israeli hawk Benjamin Netanyahu inched closer to a return to power.

The declaration came in the final statement of the first Arab League summit since the United Arab Emirates normalised ties with the Jewish state in 2020, sparking a string of similar moves that have divided the region.

Qatar authorities said Wednesday they have seized 144 counterfeit World Cup trophies, the latest raid on fakes hitting the market ahead of the football tournament that starts later this month.

The interior ministry said officers launched an operation "acting on a piece of information about a website that promotes the sale of cups that mimic the true shape of the World Cup."

It released a photo showing the 144 life-sized trophies laid out across a floor and stated that "further legal procedures will be followed".