As violence in Libya has waned this year, the number of would-be migrants to Europe intercepted so far has doubled compared to the same period of 2020, experts say.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says 20,257 people have been intercepted at sea and returned to Libya so far this year.

Israeli firefighters battled flames for a second day in the hills west of Jerusalem, forcing the evacuation of five communities and prompting the government to ask for international help.

"The Greek foreign minister already said he will help as much as possible," Foreign Minister Yair Lapid wrote on Twitter.

Militants in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket into Israel on Monday, the army said, the first since a fragile ceasefire in May ended deadly fighting between Israel and Hamas.

Poland's president has approved a law that will severely restrict claims on properties seized after World War II, prompting Israel to recall its envoy to Poland and brand the law "anti-Semitic".

Turkey's chief prospector on Friday announced the arrest of 72 more people implicated in attacks on the shops of Syrian migrants in the capital Ankara.

The new detentions bring the total number of people detained since Wednesday night's violence to 148.

Seven people were killed, three of them minors, and 21 injured when a vehicle crashed into a cliffside in the Marrakesh region of southern Morocco, the national news agency MAP said.

It said the accident happened on Thursday night in the rural community of Imindounit.

For three days last month, Nasser joined hundreds of others jammed into emergency rooms in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, searching for a hospital bed for his mother, who was struggling to breathe. By the time one became available, his mother was dead.

But her death certainly won't figure in the country's coronavirus numbers. Officially, there have been only four virus cases and one death in Yemen's north, according to the Houthi rebel authorities who control the capital and surrounding provinces.

The U.N. special envoy for Syria has voiced his growing concern at increased hostilities in the south of the country and warned of the alarming shortages faced by civilians.

Turkish soldier was killed by shellfire in northern Iraq on Thursday, Ankara said, blaming the attack on fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"One of our heroic soldiers was seriously injured in a mortar attack by PKK terrorists on one of our bases. He was taken to hospital where he could not be saved," the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Three years after Syria's government retook control of the flashpoint southern province of Daraa, regime forces have clashed with rebels again, trapping thousands of civilians in the crossfire.

Nearly half of the population of the rebel-held Daraa al-Balad district have fled heavy shelling and ground battles, but the United Nations warns that remaining civilians are cut off with dwindling supplies.