UNITED NATIONS, ​Dec 17 (Reuters) - ​United Nations ⁠Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday urged ​all parties ‍in Yemen ​to exercise maximum restraint after an ⁠advance by southern separatists that risks rekindling a 10-year-old civil war ​after ⁠a ⁠long lull.

He also said the operating environment had ‌become untenable ​in the areas held by the Iran-aligned ‍Houthi movement - Yemen's capital ‌Sanaa and ‌the heavily populated northwest.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols, editing ⁠by David Ljunggren)

An Iranian boxer sentenced to death on charges of membership of an outlawed group is at imminent risk of execution after his request for a retrial was rejected, rights groups and the exiled opposition said on Wednesday.

The World Boxing Council and sporting luminaries including former tennis star Martina Navratilova have called on Iran to spare the life of Mohammad Javad Vafaei-Sani, 30, a silver medallist in the national boxing championship.

LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - British police on Wednesday said ​they would take tougher ​action against people who use placards and chants to ⁠target the Jewish community, saying recent violent incidents had changed the context around such protests.

The move comes ​days after 15 people died in ‍a mass shooting at Australia's ​Bondi Beach targeting an event for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, and following an attack at a synagogue in Manchester in northern England ⁠in October in which two Jewish worshippers were killed.

Dec 17 - More than two months after Israel and Hamas agreed a ceasefire halting two years of devastating warfare in Gaza, most fighting has stopped.

However, both ​sides accuse each other of major breaches of the deal and look no closer ​to accepting the much more difficult steps envisaged for the next phase.

WHAT HAVE THEY AGREED TO?

Ceasefire steps are outlined in three different documents.

By Tarek Amara

TUNIS, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Tunisian President Kais Saied's ​supporters rallied in the capital on ​Wednesday calling the opposition "traitors", following mounting street protests in recent ⁠weeks that have highlighted widening political divisions.

The rival rallies come amid a deepening economic crisis marked by high inflation, ​shortages of some basic goods and poor public ‍services, which have fuelled public ​anger.

By Michael Georgy

DUBAI, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The shooting attack at a Jewish Hanukkah event at Sydney's Bondi Beach put ​the spotlight on Islamic State, which police said appeared to ​inspire the gunmen.

The men accused of carrying out Australia’s worst mass shooting in nearly 30 years had spent time in the Philippines, ⁠where Islamic State-linked networks are known to operate.

WHAT IS ISLAMIC STATE?

The Sunni Muslim group emerged in Iraq and Syria and quickly created a "caliphate", declaring its rule over all Muslims and largely displacing al Qaeda.

By Byron Kaye

SYDNEY, Dec 17 (Reuters) - After Australia's deadliest mass shooting in 1996, the country rushed in some of the world's toughest gun laws, including mandatory licensing and background checks, as well as registration of ​every firearm.

But a winding back of those laws, failure to update them with the internet age and growing ​complacency with background checks may have made it easier for two suspects behind Sunday's shooting during a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach to acquire weapons, gun safety experts said.

SYDNEY, Dec ​17 (Reuters) - ​Police ⁠in Australia said on ​Wednesday ‍they had ​charged a man ⁠who allegedly opened fire on a ​Jewish ⁠event ⁠on Sydney's Bondi Beach ‌with 59 ​offences, including a terror ‍charge.

(Reporting by ‌Alasdair ‌Pal in Sydney; Editing by ⁠Jacqueline Wong)

SYDNEY, Dec ​17 (Reuters) - ​The Australian ⁠state parliament of New ​South ‍Wales will ​reconvene next week to ⁠discuss urgent legislation on gun control in ​the wake ⁠of ⁠the deadly Bondi shootings ‌and consider ​protest reforms, Premier Chris Minns ‍said on Wednesday.

(Reporting ‌by ‌Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by ⁠Jacqueline Wong)

The Eurovision Song Contest heads into its 70th anniversary edition next year mired in its biggest-ever political boycott, with five countries staying away over Israel's participation.

Eurovision organisers announced Monday that 35 countries would take part in the world's biggest live televised music event in May -- the fewest since entry was expanded in 2004.

The number would have been even lower, but for Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova rejoining the glitzy annual extravaganza.

Once the lights go up in Vienna, Eurovision 2026 may look very much like a regular edition.