A drone air strike blasted two cars carrying suspected Al-Qaida gunmen in the southern Yemen province of Shabawa on Thursday, killing five of them, a tribal chief and witnesses said.

"Five militants belonging to Ansar Al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic law) were killed in a drone strike" in Shabwa, said the tribal chief.

France on Thursday said a Syrian attack on Turkey which killed five civilians was a serious threat to global security and peace and called for an immediate halt to such strikes.

"This violation of international law constitutes a serious threat to global security and peace," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement.

Russia on Thursday voiced concern at the "deteriorating" situation between Syria and Turkey, where cross-border shelling has heightened tensions.

Turkey resumed fire on Syrian positions on Thursday, reportedly killing several soldiers, in revenge for mortar fire on Wednesday which killed five Turkish civilians.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Thursday he believes "the Arab Spring will be followed by a Persian Spring," with international sanctions against Iran leading to renewed domestic unrest.

His remarks came a day after scuffles broke out in central Tehran in the first sign of unrest over Iran's plunging currency, which has lost more than half its value since last week as European and U.S. sanctions have bitten.

A car bomb hit a private security convoy in Baghdad on Thursday, killing four people and wounding at least nine others, security and medical officials said.

The bomb exploded in the Mansour area of west Baghdad about 9:00 am (06:00 GMT), killing four people and wounding nine, an interior ministry official said.

An explosion followed by an exchange of fire with rebels in Damascus province on Thursday left at least 21 members of Syria's elite Republican Guards unit dead, a watchdog said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had reported an earlier toll of 18 from the violence in Qudsaya, west of the capital, but revised it upwards.

Turkey pounded Syrian targets early on Thursday, killing several soldiers, in reprisal for deadly cross-border fire that has sharply escalated tensions in the tinder-box region.

In Ankara, the Turkish parliament met behind closed doors in an emergency session to consider the government's request to authorize Ankara to conduct cross-border military operations inside Syria.

A ship built in Gaza will sail next year carrying Palestinian exports to international customers, and to challenge Israel's blockade from the inside out, Canadian activists said Wednesday.

The Gaza's Ark project is building a boat using existing resources in the tiny Palestinian enclave to carry Palestinian goods to the outside world, former Canadian Member of Parliament Jim Manly.

Turkey's government will seek approval from parliament for cross-border military operation in Syria "when deemed necessary", at a special session Thursday morning, the private NTV television reported.

The decision came after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a three-and-half hour cabinet meeting following Syrian shelling that killed five Turkish nationals in a border town.

The Hamas movement in Gaza expressed "deep regret" on Wednesday over a commentary aired by Syrian state television that criticized the group's leader Khaled Meshaal.

The remarks, broadcast on Syrian state television on Tuesday night, came after Meshaal attended a conference on Sunday of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development party, which has been a staunch of the Syrian opposition.