After wowing World Expo visitors, a human washing machine is now on sale in Japan, a company spokeswoman said Friday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he would end his Ukraine offensive if Kyiv withdrew from territory Moscow claims at its own -- otherwise his army would take it by force.

The Russian army has been slowly but steadily grinding through eastern Ukraine in costly battles against outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces.

Iran is to boycott next week's World Cup finals draw in Washington because the United States refused to grant visas to several members of the delegation, the Iranian football federation announced on Friday.

"We have informed FIFA that the decisions taken have nothing to do with sports and the members of the Iranian delegation will not participate in the World Cup draw," the federation's spokesperson told state television.

Dozens of Tunisian political figures were sentenced on appeal to up to 45 years in prison for plotting against the state, local media reported Friday, in a trial rights groups have condemned as politically motivated.

"The Court of Appeal in Tunis issued a final ruling early Friday against the defendants in what is known as the conspiracy against the state case," said radio station Mosaique FM, citing an official source, adding the terms ranged from five to 45 years.

Israeli forces killed 13 people on Friday in an operation in southern Syria, saying they targeted an Islamist group, in Israel's deadliest attack on the country since Bashar al-Assad's overthrow last year.

Iraq said on Thursday it would investigate an attack on an Emirati-owned gas complex in the autonomous Kurdistan region, which disrupted gas supplies and caused power cuts.

Sabah al-Numan, the military spokesman for the Iraqi prime minister, said in a statement that the caretaker PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani had ordered "the formation of a high-level investigative committee" to look into the attack.

The appeal trial of dozens of Tunisian public and opposition figures, jailed on charges of plotting against the state, resumed on Thursday, said an AFP journalist in the courtroom.

Nearly 40 defendants were sentenced to prison in April on charges of "conspiracy against state security" and "belonging to a terrorist group".

The Palestinian militant group Hamas called on mediating countries Wednesday to pressure Israel to allow safe passage for dozens of its fighters holed up in tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip.

The request came after the Israeli military said it killed over 20 Hamas members over the past week "who attempted to flee from the underground terror infrastructure in the area", and apprehended eight more.

Rachelle Mazraani is travelling from Sydney to Beirut for Pope Leo XIV's visit this week, one of many Lebanese at home and abroad who hope the trip will revive their struggling country.

After visiting Turkey, Leo is to arrive in Lebanon on Sunday for a three-day trip that includes an open-air mass at Beirut's waterfront that organizers expect to draw 120,000 people.

Israel's military on Wednesday launched a new operation against Palestinian armed groups in the occupied West Bank, where a local governor told AFP that Israeli forces had raided several towns.

The Israeli military and internal security service said in a brief joint statement that they had begun "a broad counter-terrorism operation" in the north of the Palestinian territory.