When a Syrian prison guard tossed him into a dimly-lit room, the inmate Abdo was surprised to find himself standing ankle-deep in what appeared to be salt.

On that day in the winter of 2017, the terrified young man had already been locked up for two years in war-torn Syria's largest and most notorious prison, Sednaya.

Having been largely deprived of salt all that time in his meagre prison rations, he brought a handful of the coarse white crystals to his mouth with relish.

President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday approved most military aid to Egypt for a second straight year despite concerns on human rights, pointing to limited progress, officials said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken finalized a package of $1.17 billion for Egypt, which has been one of the largest recipients of US assistance since it became the first Arab nation to normalize relations with Israel in 1979.

Blinken decided to direct a portion of aid, $130 million, away from Egypt after determining it did not meet rights standards.

Emergency crews racing against the clock to find survivors of a collapsed building in Jordan's capital pulled three more bodies from the rubble Wednesday, bringing the death toll to nine, authorities said.

Hundreds of rescuers have been scouring the site of the four-storey residential building in Jabal al-Weibdeh, one of Amman's oldest neighbourhoods, since it toppled over on Tuesday.

Rescue teams pulled three bodies from under the rubble on Wednesday evening, a police statement said, raising the overall death toll to nine.

The US Department of Justice announced an indictment Wednesday against three Iranian hackers who used ransomware to extort a battered women's shelter and a power company.

Authorities said the trio launched ransomware attacks at "hundreds" of victims, including inside Britain, Australia, Iran, Russia and the United States, saying they extorted money "largely" for their own accounts, and not for the Iranian government.

A majority of World Cup fans support FIFA compensating migrant workers for rights abuses during preparations for the 2022 tournament in Qatar, a poll commissioned by Amnesty International and released on Thursday showed.

Qatar has repeatedly faced criticism over conditions for migrant workers, but insists it has made major improvements in recent years.

The YouGov poll surveyed more than 17,000 adults from 15 countries -- mostly in Europe, but also the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Morocco and Kenya, Amnesty said in a statement.

A woman held up a Beirut bank Wednesday with a toy gun and walked out with thousands of dollars to pay for treatment for her ill sister, in a desperate heist cheered by many in crisis-hit Lebanon.

It was the latest in a series of heists in Lebanon, where the savings of depositors have been devalued and trapped in banks for almost three years amid a crippling economic crisis.

A Paris court on Wednesday convicted Yemen's national airline of involuntary homicide and injuries over a 2009 crash that killed nearly everyone onboard except a 12-year-old girl who miraculously survived.

Yemenia Airways was sentenced to the maximum fine of 225,000 euros ($225,000) and ordered to pay one million euros to two victims' associations for damages and costs.

Its executives did not attend the hearings, blaming the civil war raging in their country.

From his home in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, Palestinian Farid Salman enjoys a clear, unobstructed view of the city, but new residential tower blocs for Jewish settlers could box him in.

Salman lives in the Arab neighbourhood of Beit Safafa where Israeli authorities recently granted pre-approval for 700 settler homes in the proposed Givat Shaked development, including four 24-storey buildings.

A Lebanese woman held up a Beirut bank on Wednesday and reportedly walked out with thousands of dollars to fund what she said was hospital treatment for her ill sister.

The move and another heist Wednesday come as Lebanese depositors -- whose savings have been devalued and trapped in banks for almost three years amid an economic collapse -- take matters into their own hands.

Sali Hafiz streamed a live video of her raid on a Beirut branch of Blom Bank, in which she could be heard yelling at employees to release a sum of money while entrances to the bank were sealed.

A sixth body was pulled Wednesday from the rubble of a collapsed building in Jordan's capital, the government said, as emergency crews raced against the clock to find others still missing.

Hundreds of rescuers have been scouring the site of the four-storey residential building in Jabal al-Weibdeh, one of Amman's oldest neighbourhoods, since it toppled over on Tuesday.

The rescuers were able to extract a four-month-old baby and a 45-year-old man from under the rubble, a security official who did not wish to be named told AFP.