Seven years of conflict in Syria have left more than 350,000 people dead, according to an updated overall death toll released Monday by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition accused the embattled premier on Sunday of perpetuating a "fake crisis" over a political dispute to potentially force early elections.

Saudi King Salman has ordered specialized anti-corruption units to be established in the public prosecutor's office, the government said Sunday, several weeks after a sweeping anti-graft purge of the kingdom's elite.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday angrily lashed out at NATO, accusing the Western military alliance of failing to back Turkey's campaign against Kurdish militia in Syria.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Sunday it would be "very unwise" for the Syrian regime to use gas as a weapon against the people of Eastern Ghouta and elsewhere.

Qatar has made another complaint to the United Nations alleging new violations of its airspace by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, state media has reported.

New air strikes and barrel bombs pounded Syria's Eastern Ghouta on Sunday as government forces pressed a three-week advance that splintered the rebel enclave and trapped dozens under collapsed buildings.

Supporters of a black-turbaned Shiite cleric are seeing red in the runup to Iraq's May elections thanks to an unprecedented alliance with the once-powerful communist party.

Egypt's military said Sunday 16 jihadists, an officer and a soldier were killed in the past four days during a major military operation against Islamic State group jihadists in Sinai.

A delegation from Syria's rebel-held Eastern Ghouta was on Sunday considering a partial evacuation deal to halt a fierce government offensive, a negotiator and monitor told AFP.

The two main rebel groups in the region, which borders Damascus, have firmly and repeatedly denied negotiating with the Syrian regime.