ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey's spy chief met with his Egyptian counterpart and Qatar's foreign minister in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss transitioning to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal and increasing joint efforts in coordination with the U.S., a Turkish source said.

The seizure of a large amount of performance-enhancing drugs in a raid by Yemeni law enforcement agents is "a landmark moment", the head of investigations for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has told AFP.

Gunter Younger said the operation, which netted 447kg of both narcotics and performance-enhancing substances, mainly amphetamines, showed authorities were increasingly tracking the cross-border trade of prohibited substances.

The popemobile used by the late pope Francis on his 2014 visit to Bethlehem re-emerged on Tuesday as a mobile children's clinic to be deployed in Gaza.

The vehicle is still unmistakeable as a popemobile: pristine white inside and out, and with the familiar raised canopy.

But instead of transporting the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Roman Catholics, the re-branded "Vehicle of Hope" is now set to serve in the war-battered Gaza Strip, in accordance with the late pope's wishes.

LATAKIA, Syria (Reuters) -Syrian security forces used gunfire on Tuesday to break up two rival groups of demonstrators in the coastal town of Latakia, heartland of the country's Alawite minority, witnesses and officials said.

Syria has been rocked by several episodes of sectarian violence since longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, who hails from the Muslim Alawite minority, was ousted by a rebel offensive last year and replaced by a Sunni-led government.

GAZA/CAIRO (Reuters) -Heavy rain caused flooding in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, swamping the tents of thousands of homeless Palestinians facing the prospect of harsh winter storms without sturdy shelter.

The large majority of Gaza's 2 million people were forced from their homes during Israel's two-year ground and air war in the small, crowded enclave triggered by Hamas' October 2023 attack, with many now living in tents and other basic shelters.

Thousands of people demonstrated on Tuesday across Syria's coastal Alawite heartland in protest at recent attacks targeting the minority community, AFP correspondents said.

The protests are the biggest in the Alawite region since the fall last December of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, who hails from the community, following an Islamist-led offensive.

Since then, the community has been the target of attacks, while hundreds of people were killed in sectarian massacres in the area in March.

Israel said the Red Cross had on Tuesday handed over the coffin of a hostage held in Gaza, adding that the remains would soon be taken for forensic identification.

Prior to this latest handover, the remains of three deceased hostages were still being held in the Gaza Strip -- two Israelis and one Thai national.

Hamas and its allies have been handing over the remains of hostages as part of the US-brokered ceasefire deal with Israel that came into force early last month.

By Federico Maccioni

ABU DHABI (Reuters) -The United States presented the warring Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with a strong text for a peace plan but neither side has accepted it, senior U.S. envoy Massad Boulos said on Tuesday.

Trump said last week he would intervene to stop the devastating conflict, which broke out in April 2023 and has spread famine and ethnic killings across the country and threatened a split, the second in its history.

GENEVA (Reuters) -The U.N. human rights office said on Tuesday that at least 127 civilians had been killed in Lebanon in strikes by the Israel military since a ceasefire nearly a year ago, and called for an investigation and for the truce to be respected.

(Reuters) -Afghanistan's Taliban administration said on Tuesday that nine children and a woman were killed in Pakistani air strikes and vowed to respond, ratcheting up tensions between the South Asian neighbours.

The bombardment overnight reported by Kabul followed a series of attacks in Pakistan that Islamabad blames on militants based in Afghanistan. Pakistan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.