The Islamic State group has announced the death in Syria of its little-known leader, Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi, who headed the extremist organization since November, and named his successor.

The group did not say when al-Qurayshi was killed but added that he died in fighting with an al-Qaida-linked group. IS spokesman Abu Huthaifa al-Ansari said that Abu Hafs al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi was named as the group's new leader.

India will participate in a weekend meeting that Saudi Arabia is hosting to find a way to start negotiations to end Russia's war in Ukraine.

Saudi Arabia invited India to the two-day meeting in Jeddah and its "participation is in consonance with our long-standing position that dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward," Arindam Bagchi, the spokesman for India's External Affairs Ministry, told reporters in New Delhi on Thursday.

Israel's Supreme Court heard a petition on Thursday against a law that protects Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from being removed from office over claims of a conflict of interest due to his ongoing corruption trial.

Netanyahu's governing coalition passed a law in March that limits removing a prime minister from office to cases of medical and mental incapacitation. It would protect Netanyahu from being deemed unfit for office because of his ongoing corruption trial and claims of a conflict of interest. Critics say the law is tailor-made for Netanyahu and encourages corruption.

The vast majority of over 55 countries that made submissions to the U.N.'s highest judicial body which will give an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories supported the Palestinians view that Israel is taking over land they seek for an independent state, their U.N. ambassador said.

The Palestinian U.N. envoy, Riyad Mansour, told a group of reporters the number of submissions to the International Court of Justice exceeded Palestinian expectations and came from every continent and included all five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council – the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

Israel is being rocked by a wave of mass protests calling for the country's democracy to be upheld. But the pro-democracy movement lacks any clear message of opposition to Israel's open-ended military rule over millions of Palestinians.

This contradiction reflects a widely held belief among Jewish Israelis that the conflict with the Palestinians is both intractable and somehow separate from Israel's internal strife.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait said Thursday they have sole ownership of a disputed gas field also claimed by Iran, in an escalating feud after Tehran threatened to pursue exploration.

The offshore field, known as Arash in Iran and Dorra in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, has long been focal point of contention between the three countries.

Ahmed Salah grew anxious when he heard the news that Russia had suspended a crucial wartime grain deal. The bakery owner in Egypt's capital is concerned it could mean global food prices soar.

"There mightn't be immediate impact," the 52-year-old said last week as he oversaw workers baking bread in his shop in Cairo, "but if they didn't find a solution soonest, things would be very difficult."

Israel is holding over 1,200 detainees — nearly all of them Palestinians — without charge or trial, the highest number in over three decades, an Israeli human rights group said.

The detainees, 99% of whom are Palestinians, are held under Israel's policy of "administrative detention," without trial and under allegations that Israeli authorities keep secret.

Tunisian President Kais Saied sacked Prime Minister Najla Bouden without explanation Tuesday night and replaced her with former central bank executive Ahmed Hachani, whom he tasked with overcoming the "colossal challenges" facing the cash-strapped North African country.

No official explanation was given for Bouden's dismissal, but several local media outlets highlighted Saied's displeasure over a number of shortages, particularly of bread in state-subsidised bakeries.

A gunman opened fire Tuesday on a group of Israelis in a settlement in the occupied West Bank, wounding four before being "neutralised" by an off-duty border officer, police said.

"A terrorist opened fire at a group of people in Maaleh Adumim," a police statement said.