At least 10 civilians and 35 combatants, mostly pro-regime forces, were killed yesterday in clashes and air strikes that erupted at dawn in northwestern Syria, a war monitor said.

Ousted Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir will appear in court next week to face charges of corruption and possessing foreign currency, the country's acting prosecutor general told reporters on Saturday.

Israeli aircraft struck Hamas bases in Gaza early yesterday, the military said, after a rocket fired by Palestinian fighters hit a Jewish theological seminary in southern Israel. There were no reported casualties on either side.

Sudan’s veteran opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi called yesterday for an “objective” international investigation into last week’s deadly crackdown on protesters, after the ruling military council rejected such a probe.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Friday for an independent investigation to establish the facts and who was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers this week in the Gulf of Oman.

Sudan risks becoming another failed state like Libya or Somalia if the opposition and military don't agree on a transition process, a senior US diplomat warned Friday.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday categorically ruled out talks with US President Donald Trump, despite an unprecedented Japanese mission aimed at defusing tensions between Washington and the Islamic Republic.

Two oil tankers were attacked on Thursday and left adrift in the Gulf of Oman, driving up oil prices and stoking fears of a new confrontation between Iran and the United States, which blamed Tehran for the incident.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged Tehran to play a “constructive role” for Middle East peace yesterday during a rare diplomatic mission to the Islamic republic aimed at defusing US-Iran tensions.

A Yemeni rebel missile attack on an airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia wounded 26 civilians on Wednesday, drawing promises of "stern action" from the Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels.

Shops and restaurants began to reopen in Sudan's capital Wednesday after demonstrators called off a nationwide civil disobedience campaign and agreed to new talks, though many residents remained indoors after last week's deadly crackdown.

Syrian officials have refused access to a newly-created chemical weapons investigation team formed to identify culprits behind attacks with banned munitions, the organisation's top official said in remarks published on Wednesday.