A Palestinian woman tried to stab Israeli guards at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Wednesday, Israeli police said, with Palestinian officials reporting she was shot dead.

Twelve people have been killed in floods after heavy rain lashed northern parts of Saudi Arabia this week, the civil defence agency said on Wednesday.

Ten died in the northwestern city of Tabuk and one each in the holy city of Medina and in northern border areas, the agency said in a statement cited by the official SPA news agency.

Bullish on security, conservative in diplomacy -- ending weeks of silence, retired Israeli general Benny Gantz has launched his campaign to become prime minister.

What did his maiden political speech delivered on Tuesday night reveal about his chances of beating long-term incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu in April's election?

German police commandos Wednesday arrested three Iraqis suspected of planning an Islamist attack using explosives, a gun and a vehicle.

Two of the men had "decided in late 2018 to carry out an Islamist attack in Germany,a" prosecutors said in a statement.

Spain's King Felipe VI arrived in Iraq on Wednesday in the first visit there by a Spanish monarch in four decades, a diplomat told AFP.

Syrian regime bombardment killed at least 11 people including nine civilians Tuesday in the northwestern region of Idlib where government and rebel backers agreed a "demilitarized zone," a monitor said.

The Islamic State group maintains a force of thousands of fighters who pose a potent threat in the Middle East as its leaders continue to encourage attacks on the West, a top U.S. intelligence official said Tuesday.

The stark warning by Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats came even as acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan announced that IS was poised to lose all its remaining holdout areas in Syria "within a couple of weeks" and the risk of terrorism had been "significantly mitigated."

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees on Tuesday appealed to nations to help it maintain a $1.2-billion budget in 2019 after it was hit last year by the withdrawal of U.S. funding.

The organization, known as UNRWA, was able to fully fund a budget of the same amount in 2018, despite a dramatic initial shortfall when the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump announced it was withdrawing nearly all support.

French jihadists detained in Syria by Kurdish-led forces could be allowed to return home, France said Tuesday in a possible change of policy brought about by the planned withdrawal of U.S. forces.

French President Emmanuel Macron met Tuesday with Egypt's top clerics and called for inter-religious dialogue at the end of a three-day visit aimed at boosting ties while raising human rights concerns. 

Macron and Pope Tawadros II stressed the need for "dialogue between religions" as he met with Pope Tawadros II at St. Mark's Cathedral, seat of Egypt's ancient Coptic Orthodox Church.