The United Nations Security Council overnight slapped sanctions on six leaders of human trafficking networks operating in Libya, a first for the world body, diplomats said.

An Iraqi refugee in France thought to be a former senior member of the Islamic State group has been arrested in Paris and indicted on suspicion of "war crimes" over his alleged involvement in a massacre in his country.

Iran held its annual day of protest against Israel on Friday, determined to show defiance at a time of mounting pressure from the United States and its regional allies.

The death toll from air strikes thought to have been carried out by Russian jets on a residential area in northwestern Syrian has risen to 38 civilians, a Britain-based monitor said Friday.

The toll, which includes five children, increased after bodies were pulled from the rubble and victims died of their injuries after the raids late Thursday in the area of Zardana in the northwestern Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

Israeli farmer Avner Yona holds up a wooden-framed sheet of plastic almost as large as he is, fitted with a now blackened tail ribbon that shows the kite-maker's malicious intent.

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said Russian forces would remain in Syria as long as it was in Moscow's interests, despite earlier announcing Russia's mission in the war-torn country was largely completed.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday tasked his housing minister to form a new government after the resignation of prime minister Sherif Ismail, a spokesman for the presidency said.

A Saudi court has sentenced four people to death for links to regional rival Iran, alleging that they were plotting the assassination of "prominent figures", state media said Thursday.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime is "no longer immune" from retaliation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned during a visit to London on Thursday.

The four Arab states facing off against Qatar in the Gulf diplomatic crisis will not ease up pressure one year after launching their boycott, the United Arab Emirates said Thursday.