With US President Donald Trump and other sceptics calling climate change a hoax, the UN's climate science body must tell the world in a "very clear way" that humans are heating the planet, its chairman told AFP.

Jim Skea, a Scottish professor, chairs the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which held a five-day meeting in a skyscraper outside Paris this week to begin drafting the next major UN climate assessment.

Negotiations on the next stage of the Gaza ceasefire continue without significant progress at a moment when the truce appears particularly fragile.

The United States, alongside Qatar and Egypt, secured a truce in Gaza that came into effect on October 10 and has mostly halted two years of war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The United Nations has since endorsed President Donald Trump's peace plan, yet there has been little progress over issues of reconstruction and post-war governance. AFP explains what could happen next:

- What is the plan? -

Dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has said he plans to return to Iran despite being sentenced to a year in prison and a travel ban earlier this week, a report said Thursday.

The 65-year-old is currently touring to promote his latest Oscar-nominated film "It Was Just an Accident", which won top prize at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

"Although I was given the opportunity, even in the hardest years, I never considered leaving my country and being a refugee elsewhere," Panahi told an audience at the Marrakech Film Festival, according to Variety magazine.

NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Syria's economy is growing much faster than the World Bank's 1% estimate for 2025, due to the flow of refugees back to the country after a 14-year civil war ended, aiding plans for the country to relaunch its currency, Syrian central bank governor AbdulKader Husrieh told Reuters NEXT on Thursday.

Husrieh also said he welcomed a deal with Visa to establish digital payment systems and added that the country is working with the International Monetary Fund to develop methods to accurately measure economic data.

By Maayan Lubell and Nidal al-Mughrabi

JERUSALEM/CAIRO Dec 4 (Reuters) - The head of an armed Palestinian faction that opposes Hamas in Gaza has been killed, Israeli media reported on Thursday, in what would be a blow to Israeli efforts to support Gazan clans against the Islamist movement.

Yasser Abu Shabab, a Bedouin tribal leader based in Israeli-held Rafah in southern Gaza, has led the most prominent of several small anti-Hamas groups that emerged in Gaza during the war that began more than two years ago.

ANKARA, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Turkey summoned Ukraine's ambassador and Russia's acting charges d'affaires to the foreign ministry to convey its concerns over a series of attacks on Russia-linked vessels inside its exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea, Deputy Foreign Minister Berris Ekinci said on Thursday.

"We are witnessing a very serious escalation in recent weeks in the Russia-Ukraine war with reciprocal attacks. And lastly, there were certain attacks in the Black Sea within our exclusive economic zone as well," Ekinci told parliament's foreign affairs commission.

By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Israel's cabinet began debate on the 2026 state budget plan that is likely to face an uphill battle and lead to new elections if not approved by March.

Ministers began what is usually a marathon session on Thursday ahead of a vote that could come early on Friday. If it passes, it heads to parliament for its initial vote.

By Jonathan Saul

LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - War insurance costs for ships sailing to the Black Sea have spiked again, with insurers reviewing policies daily as the conflict in Ukraine spills into sea lanes, five shipping and insurance sources said on Thursday.

The Black Sea is crucial for the shipment of grain, oil and oil products. Its waters are shared by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania and Turkey, as well as Russia and Ukraine.

Dec 4 (Reuters) - Israel's military said it struck targets in two southern Lebanese towns on Thursday after ordering the evacuation of two buildings it alleged were being used by Hezbollah militants.

About an hour after the initial warning, the army's Arabic spokesperson issued another notice instructing residents of buildings in two other towns to leave.

The strikes came a day after Israel and Lebanon sent civilian envoys to a committee overseeing a fragile ceasefire agreed a year ago that both sides have accused the other of breaking.

Israeli raids hit south Lebanon on Thursday as its military said it was striking Hezbollah weapons storage facilities, a day after Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives held their first direct talks in decades.

Despite a November 2024 ceasefire that was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon and has also maintained troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic.