Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, who is leading a military offensive against the U.N.-recognized government in Tripoli, rejected a ceasefire requested by French President Emmanuel Macron during talks in Paris, an Elysee official said Wednesday.

The United States called Wednesday for dismantling the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, weeks before unveiling the economic aspects of its long-awaited Middle East peace plan.

The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday that international participation in an investigation into "sabotage attacks" on oil tankers will lead to "impartial conclusions", and indicated the results may take time.

Israel's attorney general on Wednesday extended until October the deadline for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's pre-trial hearing on corruption allegations, but rejected a request for a 12-month delay.

Turkish authorities allowed imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan to see his lawyers on Wednesday for the first time since lifting a ban on such meetings last week.

The United States has said it suspects that Syrian government forces have carried out a fresh chemical attack, threatening reprisals.

Syrian government air strikes killed 15 civilians, 12 of them in a market, as fierce fighting raged for the jihadist-held northwest, a monitor said on Wednesday.

A United Nations arms expert held in Tunisia since late March on espionage charges was released Tuesday on bail, the prosecution service said.

Jihadists launched a counterattack against regime forces Tuesday on the edges of their bastion in northwestern Syria, leaving 14 jihadists and nine pro-government fighters dead, a monitor said.

Egyptian authorities have ordered the release of a former diplomat who was detained after proposing a referendum on the regime of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, his lawyer said on Monday.