The slaughter of 29 dogs by men armed with rifles in Qatar has sparked outrage in the Gulf state as it gears up to host the World Cup later this year.

Authorities say police are investigating the killings, the worst of a series of brutal cases of cruelty to dogs.

But they face criticism from animal welfare activists who say laws defending domestic animals like dogs are not being enforced.

The latest killings took place at an industrial compound near the capital Doha on July 10, but the slaughter was only reported days later, activists told AFP.

Turkey has renewed its threats of a new military offensive against Syria's Kurds, but what can it do after failing to secure the green light of Russia and Iran?

After announcing plans to move against Kurdish forces in the areas of Manbij and Tal Rifaat in northern Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey joined a three-way summit in Tehran this week looking for support.

While Iran and Russia, the two other main foreign players in the Syrian conflict, reined him in, analysts say, Turkey insisted Thursday it does not need anyone's "permission" for a new Syria campaign.

The United Arab Emirates, home to the only foreign branch of the Louvre, has vowed to ensure a thorough investigation into the trafficking of artefacts linked to its parent museum in Paris.

Hundreds of artefacts are believed to have been pillaged from Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries during a wave of protests from 2011, known as the Arab Spring.

Investigators in France suspect the artefacts were then sold on to galleries and museums around the world.

An angry and grieving Iraq on Thursday buried nine holidaymakers, including a newlywed, killed in the artillery bombardment of a Kurdish hill village.

Baghdad blames neighbouring Turkey and summoned the Turkish ambassador in protest.

Ankara denied its troops were responsible and instead accused rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Germany, France and Iran condemned the attack.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi declared a day of national mourning Thursday after nine holidaymakers were killed in the bombardment of a Kurdish hill village he blamed on neighbouring Turkey.

The bodies were to be flown to Baghdad from the Kurdish regional capital Arbil to be handed over to the families for burial in their hometowns in southern and central Iraq, a Kurdish official said.

The United States on Wednesday warned Iran that it risked dependency on an isolated Russia after it welcomed President Vladimir Putin, although the CIA chief acknowledged the two nations have uneasy ties.

Putin on Tuesday visited Tehran for a three-way summit with his counterparts from Iran and Turkey that was nominally about conflict-ridden Syria

A rights group on Wednesday said Moroccan and Spanish authorities were responsible for a horrific border tragedy last month in which two dozen migrants died.

It resulted in the highest migrant death toll in years of attempts to enter the Spanish enclave of Melilla, one of the European Union's only land borders with Africa.

Nine civilians including children were killed in a park in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region Wednesday by artillery fire that Baghdad blamed on neighbouring Turkey, a country engaged in a cross-border offensive.

In an unusually strong rebuke, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi warned Turkey that Baghdad reserves the "right to retaliate", calling the artillery fire a "flagrant violation" of sovereignty -- a line echoed by Iraq's Kurdish administration.

The European Union said Wednesday it has lifted sanctions against Syria's private airline Cham Wings, after the company was blacklisted last year for its alleged role in illegal migration to Europe.

"On 18 July, Cham Wings was removed from the list of entities subject to EU sanctions in respect of Belarus," the EU delegation to Syria said.

The EU listed Syria's only private airline last December saying it had increased flights to Minsk in the summer of 2021 to transport migrants seeking to cross from Belarus to the EU illegally.

Damascus said Wednesday that the Turkish president did not achieve his "goals" during yesterday's summit with Iran and Russia, referring to Ankara's efforts to rally support for a military operation in northern Syria.

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi hosted his Russian and Turkish counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Tuesday as part of the "Astana Peace Process" ostensibly aimed at ending Syria's 11-year conflict.

Iran and Russia support the Damascus government and Turkey supports rebel forces against the regime in the long-running war.