A leader of US student protests against Israel's war in Gaza slated for removal has been denied legal advice, a judge heard Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump vowed to deport foreign pro-Palestinian student demonstrators.

Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, one of the most prominent faces of the protest movement that erupted in response to Israel's conduct of the war, was arrested and taken to Louisiana over the weekend, sparking protests.

Palestinians who say they suffered brutal beatings and sexual abuse in Israeli detention and at the hands of Israeli settlers testified about their ordeals at the United Nations this week.

"I was humiliated and tortured," said Said Abdel Fattah, a 28-year-old nurse detained in November 2023 near Gaza City's Al Shifa hospital where he worked.

Ahead of the hearings Daniel Meron, Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva dismissed them as a waste of time, saying Israel investigated and prosecuted any allegations of wrongdoing by its forces.

With sanctions squeezing its economy, Iran is exploring the possibility of talks with the United States while resisting pressure to make major concessions.

Since returning to the White House in January, US President Donald Trump has called for a new nuclear deal with Tehran while reinstating his "maximum pressure" policy of sanctions.

Iran has officially ruled out direct talks as long as sanctions remain, with President Masoud Pezeshkian vowing on Tuesday that his country "will not bow in humiliation to anyone."

Israel said Tuesday it killed a senior Hezbollah militant responsible for drones and missiles, even as it freed Lebanese prisoners as a "goodwill" gesture to the country's new president.

Despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has continued to carry out air strikes in Lebanon, claiming they are necessary to prevent the Iran-backed militant group from rearming or re-establishing a presence along its northern border.

The EU's foreign affairs chief on Tuesday told the UN Security Council that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was just one of a rising number of cases where the "rule of force" has replaced international law.

Russia's UN ambassador in turn questioned whether the United Nations needed to talk with the EU that he accused of "pontificating" and being "Russophobic."

Eighty years after its creation the United Nations now faces "unprecedented pressure," EU high representative for foreign affairs Kaja Kallas told a Security Council meeting on relations with the European Union.

A committee formed by Syria's new authorities to investigate a wave of deadly violence said on Tuesday the country was determined to "prevent unlawful revenge".

A wave of violence broke out last Thursday, mainly in the Mediterranean heartland of the Alawite minority, the deadliest since longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December.

Security forces and allied groups have killed at least 1,225 civilians since Thursday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.

Pope Francis remains stable after almost four weeks in hospital with pneumonia, the Vatican said on Tuesday, declining to speculate on when he might go home, the day after doctors indicated he was no longer in danger.

The 88-year-old head of the world Catholic Church has been in Rome's Gemelli hospital since February 14 with pneumonia in both lungs, suffering several respiratory crises that sparked real fear for his life.

But on Tuesday evening -- a day after indicating that he was out of imminent danger -- the Holy See said that the pope's condition continued to be stable.

Ukraine said talks with the United States in Saudi Arabia began "very constructively" on Tuesday, with a partial ceasefire with Russia on the table hours after Kyiv conducted its largest drone attack on Moscow in three years of war.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga attended the meeting in Jeddah -- which Russia was not participating in -- as President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on Ukraine to end the war that began with Russia's 2022 invasion.

Protesters in New York and rights groups expressed outrage Monday over the arrest of a leader of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University, as President Donald Trump vowed further crackdowns.

Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate and one of the most prominent faces of the university's high-profile protests, was arrested by US immigration officials over the weekend despite holding a permanent residency green card.

For Gazan teacher Abdullah Mortaja, Israel's decision to cut off electricity to the war-battered territory was "a joke", having already lived with little power supply since war began more than 16 months ago.

The announcement Sunday by Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen followed a decision to block the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip in a bid to pressure Hamas to extend a fragile ceasefire on Israel's terms.