A huge blast which killed 20 people in central Cairo was caused by a speeding car packed with explosives, Egyptian officials said Monday as the president decried a "terrorist incident."

Damascus resumed air strikes on northwest Syria Monday, a war monitor said, scrapping a ceasefire for the jihadist-run bastion and accusing rebels of targeting an airbase of its ally Russia.

Turkey called on the United States to end its support for a Kurdish militia in northern Syria as the two countries held talks on Monday aimed at preventing a fresh Turkish invasion. 

Saudi air defences intercepted Yemeni rebel drones targeting civilian airports on Monday, a Riyadh-led military coalition said, as the rebels ramp up cross-border attacks.

Iraq's anti-corruption commission said Monday it has recovered $1 billion in money stolen from state coffers in the first six months of the year, in its latest efforts to stem corruption.

A Libyan airliner has narrowly escaped being hit by incoming fire as it landed at war-torn capital Tripoli's sole functioning airport, aviation officials said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced harsh criticism and mockery Monday by election rivals and a former cabinet colleague after members of his Likud party were asked to pledge support for his leadership.

At least 19 people have been killed when a speeding car driving against traffic crashed into three others causing a huge explosion in Cairo, the Egyptian health ministry said Monday.

The car crash happened just before midnight Sunday outside the National Cancer Institute in central Cairo and also wounded 30 people, the ministry added.

France's President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday about the situation in Libya calling for a ceasefire "very soon" between the warring sides, the French presidency said. 

The chief of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the main jihadist group in Syria's northwestern Idlib, on Saturday refused any withdrawal from a future buffer zone after a truce went into effect in the area.