Bombardment by the Syrian regime and its Russian ally killed 18 civilians including five children in northwest Syria Wednesday, a monitor said, in the latest violence to hit the jihadist-run bastion.

The Libyan navy said Tuesday it seized an Italian-flagged fishing vessel and is questioning its crew in the western port city of Misrata.

Israel's domestic intelligence service said Wednesday that the country's security forces had uncovered Iranian intelligence efforts to recruit Israeli Arabs and Palestinians.

An Israeli missile attack targeted Syrian military positions held by the government and its allies early on Wednesday, Syria's state news agency said. 

Regime bombardment on northwestern Syria killed at least seven civilians including children on Tuesday, a monitor said, a day after dozens were killed in raids targeting the opposition bastion.

Israeli government officials on Tuesday condemned Palestinians who hurled abuse and chairs at a Saudi blogger visiting Jerusalem as a guest of Israel.

Israeli election contender and ex-premier Ehud Barak apologized Tuesday for the killing of Israeli Arabs in bloody 2000 protests, after an Arab lawmaker slammed him in a newspaper editorial.

Turkey and the U.S. began talks on Tuesday to establish a "security zone" in northern Syria aimed at creating a buffer between Kurdish fighters and the Turkish border. 

Saudi Arabia condemned on Tuesday Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes in a controversial operation the previous day, urging world powers to "stop this aggression."

Kuwait has received another $270 million in compensation for Iraq's 1990 invasion, the UN said Tuesday, as it aims to wrap up reparations more than a decade after Saddam Hussein's death.