The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces penetrated the Islamic State group's bastion of Tabqa in northern Syria on Monday, overrunning territory in the town's south, a monitor said.

Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti's health has declined seriously over the past week after he joined a hunger strike with more than 1,000 other prisoners in Israel, an NGO said Monday.

Al-Qaida's leader has urged his followers and all militants in Syria to unite ranks and prepare for protracted jihad, or holy war.

Ayman al-Zawahri tells the jihadis to remain steadfast and change tactics to a guerrilla war. His remarks came in an audio message released on Monday by al-Qaida's media arm As-Sahab.

A Palestinian woman stabbed an Israeli guard at a key crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem on Monday before being arrested, the police said.

A police statement said Asia Kaabneh, a 39-year-old mother of nine from the West Bank, stabbed a guard at the Qalandia checkpoint, injuring her lightly.

After fleeing war in Syria and arriving in America with her family four months ago, for one day Mona Hafez is not a refugee. She is a tourist seeing the sights of New York.

"Coming to the park was really fun. Riding the subway was awesome. I love all of New York City," says the 10-year-old, words tumbling out of her mouth in delight.

Israel has come to a standstill as people stopped in their tracks for a two-minute siren that wailed across the country in remembrance of the Holocaust's 6 million Jewish victims.

The ritual is the centerpiece of Israel's annual Holocaust Remembrance Day for those systematically killed by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II. Motorists pulled over on Monday morning, stepping outside their vehicles, heads bowed in silence.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi received a royal welcome from King Salman as he landed Sunday in Saudi Arabia for a visit to boost ties after months of tension.

Seven Yemeni soldiers were killed and 15 others wounded Sunday when a shipment of landmines accidentally exploded in the southern port city of Aden, emergency and health officials said. 

Six Israelis, including two soldiers, have been arrested for racist attacks against Arabs with knives and other weapons and charged with "terrorist" offenses, authorities said Sunday.

Hundreds of thousands of Shiite faithful thronged the mausoleum of Imam Kadhim in Baghdad Sunday for the climax of a week-long pilgrimage that saw millions converge on the Iraqi capital.