An armed group has kidnapped two foreigners working with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Yemen's east, a government source said Sunday, as the charity confirmed it had "lost contact" with some staff.

Over the years a number of foreigners have been abducted in Yemen by the country's heavily armed tribes and there have also been some kidnappings by jihadists. Iran-backed Huthi rebels, fighting a seven-year war with the government, have also detained several Westerners but most were later released.

The United States said Sunday it was in "active discussions" with European nations about banning Russian oil imports as further economic penalty against Moscow for invading Ukraine, but stopped short of announcing an outright boycott.

With Western nations mulling the prospect of a boycott, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba waded into the debate to strongly call for a ban on such imports, saying Russian oil "smells of Ukrainian blood."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday dismissed as "irrelevant" Russian demands for guarantees that new sanctions linked to Ukraine will not affect Moscow's rights under a reworked Iran nuclear deal.

With the parties to the Iran agreement, which the US abandoned in 2018, now seemingly close to a new accord, Blinken rejected fresh demands voiced Saturday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine "have nothing to do with the Iran nuclear deal," Blinken said on CBS talk show "Face the Nation."

Israel's premier said Sunday his country had a "moral obligation" to help stem fighting in Ukraine, after shuttle diplomacy saw him visit the Kremlin and as hundreds of Jewish Ukrainians landed in Israel.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met for three hours with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Saturday, before flying to Berlin to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Bennett, acting after Kyiv asked him to launch a dialogue with Moscow following Russia's invasion, has also held three phone calls in 24 hours with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Every Sunday Noori Sani welcomes his old friends around a bountiful Turkish breakfast in Istanbul. But surrounding him now are empty tables on his terrace at his restaurant by the Blue Mosque.

"On a day like this, we should be full," the owner of Serbethane restaurant said in the city's historic district.

Within a few days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Ukrainians and Russians cancelled reservations for trips, disastrous for Turkey where tourism represented 10 percent of GDP before the pandemic.

In the age of Covid, Jordanian mechanical engineer Saliba Taimeh pondered how to deal with one contaminated everyday surface: the handrails of escalators in shopping malls and transport hubs.

He came up with a device to sterilise them with UV rays -- and this is where TechWorks stepped in.

A wealth of ideas would not have seen the light of day without TechWorks, a Jordanian platform aimed at bringing together youth, ideas and resources to jump-start innovations.

Israel's premier stepped into the role of mediator Saturday as Russia's invasion of Ukraine intensified, holding a three-hour meeting at the Kremlin with Vladimir Putin before calling Ukraine's president and flying to Berlin.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's sit-down with Putin was the first by a foreign leader since the day Russian forces invaded Ukraine last week, and came after Kyiv had asked Israel to launch a dialogue with Moscow.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett held Kremlin talks with Vladimir Putin Saturday, the Russian president's second meeting with a foreign leader since his forces invaded Ukraine last week.

Bennett has so far not joined other foreign leaders in condemning the Russian offensive, stressing Israel's strong ties with both Moscow and Kyiv. Ukraine has previously asked Bennett to mediate.

A statement from Bennett's office said the premier "took off early this morning for Moscow, after speaking with President Putin last Wednesday."

Radwa Helmi made history on Saturday as the first woman judge to sit on the bench of Egypt's State Council, a top court in the Arab country.

Helmi, making her appearance in a Cairo courthouse, was among 98 women appointed last year to join the council, one of Egypt's main judicial bodies, following a decision by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

"The 5th of March has become a new historical day for Egyptian women," said the head of the National Council for Women (NCW), Maya Morsi.

The move came ahead of the March 8 International Women's Day.

The United Arab Emirates has promised "robust actions" against money-laundering and terrorist financing after the Middle East financial hub was placed on a grey list of countries subject to heightened scrutiny.

The wealthy Gulf state, which includes the freewheeling trade-to-tourism hub Dubai, was named on the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force's 23-strong list on Friday, joining the likes of Yemen, Syria and South Sudan.