Israel's government decided this week to dissolve parliament and hold early elections on April 9, seven months before their November due date.

Clashes between protesters and security forces in an impoverished Tunisian city where a journalist burned himself to death over economic conditions spread to two other towns overnight, authorities said Wednesday.

A U.N.-led truce monitoring team including members of Yemen's warring sides held its first meeting in the flashpoint city of Hodeida on Wednesday, a pro-government official told AFP.

"We are expecting a good outcome," said the official, who requested anonymity.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent more troops to Syria's border on Monday ahead of an imminent U.S. withdrawal, as the White House announced he had invited Donald Trump to Ankara. 

Pope Francis used his Christmas message Tuesday to appeal for peace in conflict zones such as Syria and Yemen, whose populations face some of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

A Tunisian journalist has died after setting himself on fire, officials said, in a protest over harsh living conditions that prompted overnight clashes with police in the country's west. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a skilled survivor of Israel's cutthroat politics, is hoping snap elections will help him withstand a potential corruption indictment, analysts say, and polls show he is likely to succeed.

France will not gain in any way by retaining forces to protect a Kurdish militia in Syria, Turkey's foreign minister said on Tuesday, after Paris announced it would maintain a presence despite an imminent U.S. withdrawal.

Gunfire and explosions rocked Libya's foreign ministry on Tuesday as attackers stormed the building in the capital Tripoli, killing at least one person, witnesses and a security source said.

The head of the United Nations team tasked with monitoring a fragile ceasefire in the flashpoint city of Hodeida on Monday visited its lifeline docks, a port official said.