Violence in Iraq's Anbar province, where militants control all of one city and parts of another, has displaced up to 300,000 people in six weeks, the United Nations has said.

The province has been hit by a surge in fighting between pro- and anti-government forces that began at the end of last year, as Iraq suffers its worst violence since 2008.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet his Gulf Arab counterparts on February 18 for talks expected to focus on the Syria conflict, a Kuwaiti official has said.

Foreign ministry undersecretary Khaled al-Jarallah said the Kuwait City talks, part of regular strategic meetings between the two sides, will discuss topics including the Syrian issue, the official KUNA news agency reported overnight Tuesday.

Syria's Red Crescent was on standby Wednesday to resume evacuating civilians from besieged neighborhoods of central Homs city, after operations were suspended for a day over "logistical difficulties".

Red Crescent head of operations Khaled Erksoussi said his teams were waiting for the conclusion of a daily meeting between the United Nations and Homs's governor, Talal Barazi.

Gunmen shot dead three policemen near the Suez canal city of Ismailia and seized their weapons, bringing to five the number of policemen killed in 24 hours in Egypt.

Attacks on security force personnel have surged since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July and the military-installed authorities launched a deadly crackdown on supporters of the deposed leader.

Bahrain's opposition has called for protests to mark the third anniversary Friday of an Arab Spring revolt led by the Shiite majority that was brutally crushed by the Saudi-backed Sunni monarchy.

The Gulf state is deeply divided, with persistent protests on the outskirts of the capital Manama that ignite clashes with police, scores of Shiites jailed on "terror" charges, deadlocked reconciliation talks and simmering sectarian distrust.

A shipment of deadly Syrian chemical agents expected to arrive in the Italian port of Gioia Tauro has sparked fears among the local population but dock workers are hoping it could help relaunch their crisis-hit hub.

The 560 tonnes of chemicals had been due to arrive in what is the Mediterranean's biggest port for container transfers later this month to be then put onto a U.S. ship for destruction in international waters.

A military aircraft carrying 78 people crashed in Algeria's mountainous northeast with just one survivor on Tuesday, in one of the country's deadliest air disasters, the defense ministry said.

The C-130 Hercules aircraft, which came down in the Oum El Bouaghi region, was carrying 74 passengers -- soldiers and their families -- as well as four crew members, the ministry said.

Israel's top court ordered Tuesday new municipal elections in the country's largest Arab city after a close vote there and in another city rife with religious tensions after fraud suspicions.

The High Court decision, seen by Agence France Presse, said residents of the northern city of Nazareth must vote again after incumbent mayor Ramez Jaraiseh beat Ali Salem by only nine votes in an October poll.

U.S. President Barack Obama warned Tuesday that Russia would be to blame for keeping aid from desperate Syrian civilians if it blocked a U.N. resolution designed to lift the siege of Homs.

Obama also heaped pressure on the Kremlin as U.S. concern grows about the pace of Syrian compliance with a deal to hand over its chemical weapons stocks for destruction.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Tuesday he was cancelling a planned trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories next week to deal with devastating floods in England.

Cameron was due to make the trip on February 18 and 19 although it had not officially been announced for security reasons.