Israelis will no longer have to wear masks outdoors starting from Sunday as the number of virus infections plummets, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said.

"The rate of infection in Israel is very low thanks to the successful vaccine campaign in Israel, and therefore it is possible to ease (restrictions)," Edelstein said in a statement Thursday.

An explosion killed at least one civilian on Thursday at a marketplace in Baghdad's densely populated majority-Shiite Sadr City, the army said, without saying who or what caused it.

A Turkish delegation will visit Egypt next month as part of Ankara's efforts to mend ties, the foreign minister said on Thursday.

An attack Wednesday on an airport in Arbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, was carried out by drone, the Kurdish interior ministry said, in an unprecedented escalation of the arms used to target US soldiers based there.

A Saudi university near the country's border with Yemen caught fire early Thursday after the kingdom's air defenses intercepted a barrage of ballistic missiles and bomb-laden drones.

The interception scattered debris on Jizan University's campus, which caused a fire that has been contained, the Saudi-led coalition at war in Yemen said in a statement. It said no one was killed, and there were no immediate reports of injuries.

Syria on Wednesday angrily rejected a global watchdog's report that found it had used chemical weapons on a rebel-held town in 2018, dismissing the charge as "fabricated."

The remains of Khaled al-Assaad, a Syrian archaeologist beheaded by Islamic State group jihadists, have yet to be recovered, his son told AFP on Wednesday.

Turkey's foreign minister hailed the start of "a new era" with Egypt as Ankara pushes ahead with normalising relations with Cairo, local media reported on Wednesday.

Egyptian photojournalist Hossam el-Sayed and his wife Solafa Magdy, an independent journalist, have been released after spending the past year and a half behind bars, their professional association said Wednesday.

The Japanese owner of a megaship seized after blocking the Suez Canal has said it is negotiating with Egyptian authorities after they demanded $900 million in compensation for its release.