Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday sacked his prime minister of four years, Imad Khamis, as the country grappled with a stinging economic crisis and renewed protests.

Turkey on Thursday rejected an Egyptian peace initiative in Libya after a series of military victories by forces loyal to Tripoli against strongman Khalifa Haftar and said it favoured a binding ceasefire under UN auspices.

After months of tensions, Baghdad and Washington are poised to launch strategic talks Thursday to reset ties -- but even with a new US-friendly Iraqi premier, a major breakthrough is unlikely.

The Saudi ambassador was summoned to the Danish foreign ministry on Wednesday after terrorism charges were laid against three leaders of an Iranian Arab separatist group based in Denmark.

The Iraqi government will want to keep a U.S. military presence on its territory to fight the Islamic State group, a U.S. general predicted Wednesday on the eve of strategic negotiations between the two governments.

Israel's Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down a law that would have allowed the government to seize hundreds of hectares in the occupied West Bank.

A Moroccan diplomat at the center of a spat between Algiers and Rabat has left Algeria at the country's request, a spokesman for the presidency said.

Umm Ahmed and her family have survived years of war, but now the mother of five is terrified uncontrolled devaluation of the Syrian pound will prevent her from feeding her children.

Tunisia's parliament on Wednesday rejected a motion calling on France to apologise for crimes committed during and after colonial rule, following 15 hours of debate that ran into the night.

Germany and its European partners have "serious concerns" over Israel's plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in Jerusalem Wednesday.
