The bitter Gulf crisis moved into the international courts Wednesday as Qatar accused the United Arab Emirates of fostering an "environment of hate" against Qataris.

Israel's ambassador to UNESCO said Tuesday he was urging his government to reconsider its decision to quit the U.N. cultural body, saying it had halted its "anti-Israeli resolutions" over the past year.

Israel and the United States both announced on October 12 that they would leave the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization over resolutions critical of the Jewish state.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Tuesday sacked the country's police chief, Abdelghani Hamel, until now seen as a likely successor to the head of state.

Britain's Prince William paid a somber visit to Israel's Holocaust memorial on Tuesday then took part in a seaside soccer game, tasting two of the country's many faces.

In a bitter diplomatic battle, Russia, backed by Iran and Syria, Tuesday sought to head off a Western push to endow the world's global chemical watchdog with new powers to identify those behind toxic arms attacks.

Cyprus said Tuesday it is examining an Israeli request to build a port facility on the island for the delivery of goods to Palestinians of the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Syria's army is launching its assault on rebel districts of the flashpoint southern city of Daraa, state media said on Tuesday, following a week of escalating operations in the countryside.

Air strikes and artillery fire killed 55 people near Yemen's Hodeida, medical sources and residents said Tuesday, as the UAE insisted Huthi rebels pull out of the key port city.

Air strikes and ground fighting in southern Syria have forced at least 45,000 people to flee, the United Nations said on Tuesday, the largest displacement in the area so far.

Backed by Russia, Syrian government forces have ramped up air strikes and ground attacks on rebel positions in the south, particularly its main province of Daraa. 

An Israeli parliamentary vote scheduled for Tuesday on recognising the World War I killings of Armenians as genocide has been cancelled because of government opposition, the lawmaker behind the initiative said.