Tunisians are to vote again on Sunday in elections for a parliament stripped of its powers, the final pillar of President Kais Saied's remake of politics in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.

The second-round vote comes as the North African country grapples with a grave economic crisis and deep political divisions over Saied's July 2021 power grab.

An investigation by the global chemical weapons watchdog established there are "reasonable grounds to believe" Syria's air force dropped two cylinders containing chlorine gas on the city of Douma in April 2018, killing 43 people.

A report published Friday by a team from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons offered the latest confirmation that the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad used chemical weapons during his country's grinding civil war.

Iraqi Kurdish authorities have pushed back against a decision by Iraq's top court that blocked payments from state coffers funding the semi-autonomous region.

Jutiar Adel, a spokesperson for Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government said in a statement that the "unlawful decision from an illegitimate court will impact (the) mutual understanding" between Kurdish authorities in northeastern Iraq and the central government in Baghdad.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank this weekend, the State Department announced Thursday, as the U.S. expressed alarm about escalating violence after Israel's single deadliest operation in the West Bank in two decades.

Blinken's visit to Israel has been planned for weeks, but the Israeli raid on a West Bank refugee camp earlier Thursday — which the Palestinians say killed nine people, including a 61-year-old woman — will likely dominate his talks in Jerusalem and Ramallah. The Israeli military also fatally shot a 22-year-old Palestinian later in the day.

Israel's defense minister signaled Friday that the military would stop its airstrikes if Palestinian militant groups halted rocket attacks, a day after the deadliest Israeli raid in decades raised the prospect of a major flare-up in fighting.

After a limited exchange of Palestinian rockets and Israeli airstrikes on Gaza overnight, residents of Jerusalem were on edge Friday morning as they waited to see what comes next.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Thursday that antisemitism is on the rise in the Western world and urged the European Union to ensure that Jews can live safely on the continent where the Holocaust took place.

Speaking at the European Parliament on the eve of the annual commemorations of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, Herzog said EU countries as well as the 27-nation bloc's officials should use legislation, education and security to eradicate antisemitism.

Tens of thousands of people endured a winter chill and mist on Thursday as they gathered to watch a parade in the Indian capital showcasing the country's defense capability and cultural heritage on a newly revamped ceremonial boulevard.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi looked on as an official guest at India's Republic Day event, which marked the anniversary of the adoption of the country's constitution on Jan. 26, 1950, nearly three years after it won independence from British colonial rule.

Israel's tech industry has long been the driving force behind the country's economy. Now, as Israel's new government pushes ahead with its far-right agenda, the industry is flexing its muscle and speaking out in unprecedented criticism against policies it fears will drive away investors and decimate the booming sector.

The public outcry presents a pointed challenge to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who champions Israeli technology on the international stage and has long boasted of his own economic prowess. It also highlights how deep and broad opposition to the government's policies runs, from political rivals, to top members of the justice system and military.

An Israeli raid on the occupied West Bank's Jenin refugee camp Thursday killed nine Palestinians including an elderly woman, Palestinian officials said, also accusing the forces of using tear gas inside a hospital children's ward.

The death toll rose to "nine martyrs including an elderly woman," the health ministry said, with multiple wounded.

Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Palestinian officials said, the latest death in a surge of violence. The Israeli military said the Palestinian tried to stab a soldier.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the man as Aref Abdel Nasser Lahlouh, 20. The Israeli military said the man was carrying a knife and was shot after he attempted to attack a soldier at a military post.