Egypt will use its influence as chair of the U.N. Security Council in May to defend the interests of the Palestinian people, the presidency said on Monday.

Russia and the United States on Monday agreed to "redouble" efforts to find a political solution to the Syrian conflict and extend a truce across the whole of the country.

With a temporary ceasefire in place in a war that has killed more than 270,000 people over five years, Washington and Moscow said some headway had been made in reducing the fighting.

Tunisian authorities prevented nearly 2,000 people from traveling abroad to join jihadist groups in the first three months of this year, interior ministry spokesman Yasser Mesbah said on Monday.

An Emirati court on Monday ordered a self-proclaimed local leader of the Islamic State group jailed for life for plotting a series of attacks, media reported.

Top diplomats will hold talks in Vienna this month aimed at supporting efforts to end the chaos in Libya, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Monday.

Israel issued Monday a "severe" warning to its citizens to avoid visiting Tunisia where hundreds of Jewish pilgrims will be celebrating the religious Lag BaOmer festival later this month.

The body of a Palestinian attacker has been buried in Jerusalem after Israel returned his remains, the first such burial since the country's top court recommended returning bodies of assailants.

Yemen's president has criticized what he called the "unacceptable" expulsion from Aden of hundreds of people originating from the north, after loyalists drove Iran-backed rebels out of the southern city.

At least 81 people including firefighters suffered minor injuries on Monday when a fire spread quickly through a commercial area in downtown Cairo, Egyptian officials said.

The politically charged trial began Monday of an Israeli soldier accused of shooting dead a wounded Palestinian assailant as he lay on the ground.

The head of the military court's three-judge panel read out the manslaughter indictment to Elor Azaria, who was clad in his uniform and surrounded by family in the cramped courtroom, an Agence France Presse journalist said.