Yemen's embattled president has demanded a full rebel withdrawal from conflict-hit Hodeida, a government source said, after talks with the U.N.'s top envoy on Wednesday in Aden.

U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths met with President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, whose troops are battling the country's Huthi rebels for control of the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, in the latest round of talks aimed at containing the escalating violence.

Deadly air strikes pounded rebel-held towns across southern Syria on Wednesday, as relief groups sounded the alarm over a Russian-backed push for the region and its main city Daraa.

Hamas militants fired a dozen projectiles at Israel overnight, the Israeli army said Wednesday, in what the territory's Islamist rulers said was their response to Israeli targeting of Palestinian civilians.

Leaders of a Moroccan protest movement were sentenced to up to 20 years in prison late Tuesday over their roles in demonstrations that rocked the north of the country in 2016.

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.