NICOSIA, Jan 13 (Reuters) - A senior aide to the Cypriot president has quit over a video that opposition politicians allege shows high-level corruption on the east Mediterranean island but which the authorities dismiss as an attempt to discredit the country.

Charalambos Charalambous, who ran President Nikos Christodoulides' private office and was one of two people at the presidency overseeing a fast-track process for investments in Cyprus, denied wrongdoing but resigned on Monday.

LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - British foreign minister Yvette Cooper on Tuesday condemned the Iranian leadership for what she described as the "horrendous and brutal killing" of protesters, saying Britain had summoned the Iranian ambassador to underline the gravity of the situation.

"The United Kingdom condemns in the strongest of terms the horrendous and brutal killing of Iranian protesters, and we demand that the Iranian authorities respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of their citizens," Cooper told parliament.

QAMISHLI, Syria, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Several thousand people marched under the rain in northeast Syria on Tuesday to protest the expulsion of Kurdish fighters from the city of Aleppo the previous week after days of deadly clashes.

The violence in Aleppo has deepened one of the main faultlines in Syria, where President Ahmed al-Sharaa's promise to unify the country under one leadership after 14 years of war has faced resistance from Kurdish forces wary of his Islamist-led government.

Iranian authorities will press charges punishable by death against some individuals arrested during recent demonstrations, prosecutors said on Tuesday, as concern grew that one man arrested during the protests already risks imminent execution.

The office of the Tehran prosecutor said in a statement quoted by state television that an unspecified number would be charged with "moharebeh", or "waging war against God", a sharia law term which is a capital offence in Iran and used widely in the past in death penalty cases.

By Laila Bassam

BEIRUT, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Lebanese prosecutors have indicted former central bank governor Riad Salameh and two lawyers on charges including embezzlement of public funds, forgery and illicit enrichment, judicial authorities said on Tuesday.

Salameh, who headed the Lebanese Central Bank for three decades, was detained for about 13 months over alleged financial crimes committed during his tenure and was released in September after paying record bail of more than $14 million. He remains in Lebanon and is subject to a travel ban.

An Iranian went on trial in France Tuesday accused of promoting "terrorism" on social media in a case linked to a possible prisoner swap with two French citizens held by the Islamic republic for over three-and-a-half years.

Mahdieh Esfandiari, a 39-year-old Iranian, was arrested in France in February on charges of promoting and inciting "terrorism" on social media over comments she is said to have made, including on Palestinian militant group Hamas attacking Israel on October 7, 2023, according to French authorities.

By Giulia Paravicini

NAIROBI, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Three self-governing regions in Somalia that have close relations with the United Arab Emirates have dismissed a decision this week by the central government to sever ties with the UAE, a longterm sponsor.

On Monday Somalia annulled all agreements with the UAE, including in the field of security, accusing the Gulf country, which has trained and funded Somalia's army and invested in its ports, of undermining Somalia's national sovereignty.

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

CAIRO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Hamas is expected to elect a new leader this month, two sources in the group told Reuters, filling the role left vacant since Israel killed Yahya Sinwar in 2024 despite concerns that a successor could suffer the same fate.

Khalil Al-Hayya and Khaled Meshaal are seen as frontrunners for the helm at a vital moment for the militant Islamist group, battered by two years of war ignited by its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and facing international demands to disarm.

Syria's army was moving reinforcements east of Aleppo city on Wednesday, a day after it told Kurdish forces to withdraw from the area following deadly clashes last week.

The deployment comes as Syria's Islamist-led government seeks to extend its authority across the country, but progress has stalled on integrating the Kurds' de facto autonomous administration and forces into the central government under a deal reached in March.

The former empress of Iran, widow of the shah deposed by the Islamic revolution, on Tuesday urged the Iranian security forces to support protests shaking the clerical leadership that ousted her husband.

Farah Pahlavi, 87, echoing calls made by her son the former crown prince Reza Pahlavi, said she believed "light will triumph over darkness" despite a crackdown by authorities that activists fear has left hundreds dead.