Turkey's combative president is threatening to launch a military operation in northeastern Syria that is designed to push back U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish forces — an invasion that carries major risks for a highly combustible region in war-devastated Syria.

An operation would mark the third Turkish incursion into Syria in the past four years — all seeking to limit the growing influence of Syrian Kurdish fighters, which Turkey views as terrorist along its border. Turkish and American military officials were meeting Monday and Tuesday in Ankara for last-ditch negotiations amid warnings from Turkish officials about a military buildup.

Israeli police on Tuesday recommended charging Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman over accusations he sought to prevent the extradition of a woman facing trial in Australia for pedophilia.

Forces loyal to Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar said they launched air strikes early Tuesday against an airbase in third city Misrata held by government loyalists.

Turkey and the U.S. were on a collision course Tuesday as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to "eliminate" a Kurdish militia in northern Syria -- a move deemed "unacceptable" by the Pentagon.

Erdogan has repeatedly warned that it is preparing an offensive into Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia, which the US has supported as the main fighting force against the Islamic State group. 

The Islamic State extremist group has been left with as much as $300 million following the loss of its so-called "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria, "with none of the financial demands of controlling territory and population," Secretary-General António Guterres said in a report released Monday.

The report to the Security Council on the threat posed by IS warns that the lull in attacks directed by the militant group "may be temporary."

Tunisia's defense ministry said Monday it had prevented 53 Ivorian and Sudanese citizens from illegally entering the country, a move condemned by NGOs as a violation of rights.

A huge blast which killed 20 people in central Cairo was caused by a speeding car packed with explosives, Egyptian officials said Monday as the president decried a "terrorist incident."

Damascus resumed air strikes on northwest Syria Monday, a war monitor said, scrapping a ceasefire for the jihadist-run bastion and accusing rebels of targeting an airbase of its ally Russia.

Turkey called on the United States to end its support for a Kurdish militia in northern Syria as the two countries held talks on Monday aimed at preventing a fresh Turkish invasion. 

Saudi air defences intercepted Yemeni rebel drones targeting civilian airports on Monday, a Riyadh-led military coalition said, as the rebels ramp up cross-border attacks.