Mohammed Hussein looks sadly at his wife as she lies in bed in a Jordanian hospital where she is being treated for cancer -- far from the devastating war back home in Yemen. 

Dawla, too sick to talk, is one of a handful of critically ill Yemenis transported by the United Nations from the rebel-held capital Sanaa to Jordan for treatment. 

Tunisian President Kais Saied's first major foray into international affairs appears to have backfired, with his diplomatic strategy called into question over the dismissal of Tunis' UN envoy.

The Syrian government on Wednesday described Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as "disconnected from reality" after he threatened to attack regime forces "everywhere" in Syria.

The United States will grant Iraq a brief 45-day extension to a waiver allowing Baghdad to continue importing Iranian gas despite American sanctions, an Iraqi official told AFP on Wednesday.

Turkey will strike Syrian regime forces "everywhere" if its soldiers come under renewed attack, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Wednesday and  accused Damascus ally Russia of committing "massacres" in Idlib.

"I hereby declare that we will strike regime forces everywhere from now on regardless of the Sochi deal if any tiny bit of harm comes to our soldiers at observation posts or elsewhere," Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling party in parliament. 

Syrian regime forces Wednesday pushed on with their offensive in the country's northwest, securing areas along a key national highway they seized, as tensions spiralled with Turkey which supports rebel groups.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan have discussed de-escalation of the Syrian crisis, the Kremlin said Wednesday, adding that Russian-Turkish agreements should be implemented in full.

The U.N. Security Council was asked Tuesday to vote on a resolution supporting a ceasefire in Libya, in what would be the first binding text adopted since fighting flared in April last year.

Controversial Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr announced on Tuesday he was dissolving the "blue caps", an organised unit of his supporters accused of deadly attacks on anti-government protests in recent days. 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday urged the UN Security Council to reject President Donald Trump's Middle East plan, saying it would splinter Palestinian lands and never bring lasting peace.