A new draft law on conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews, whose support is crucial for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, has sparked uproar in Israel, with the opposition denouncing it as a special privilege for "draft-dodgers".

A team of Ukrainian negotiators was on Saturday headed to the United States for talks on Washington's plan to end the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Ukraine was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers in the Black Sea that it believed were covertly transporting sanctioned Russian oil, a Ukrainian security source said.

Syria on Friday condemned an Israeli military operation in southern Syria that killed 13 people overnight as a "war crime".

"Syria denounces... the criminal aggression" of the Israeli army in the village of Beit Jin, the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that such acts aim to "ignite the region" in conflict.

After wowing World Expo visitors, a human washing machine is now on sale in Japan, a company spokeswoman said Friday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he would end his Ukraine offensive if Kyiv withdrew from territory Moscow claims at its own -- otherwise his army would take it by force.

The Russian army has been slowly but steadily grinding through eastern Ukraine in costly battles against outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces.

Iran is to boycott next week's World Cup finals draw in Washington because the United States refused to grant visas to several members of the delegation, the Iranian football federation announced on Friday.

"We have informed FIFA that the decisions taken have nothing to do with sports and the members of the Iranian delegation will not participate in the World Cup draw," the federation's spokesperson told state television.

Dozens of Tunisian political figures were sentenced on appeal to up to 45 years in prison for plotting against the state, local media reported Friday, in a trial rights groups have condemned as politically motivated.

"The Court of Appeal in Tunis issued a final ruling early Friday against the defendants in what is known as the conspiracy against the state case," said radio station Mosaique FM, citing an official source, adding the terms ranged from five to 45 years.

Israeli forces killed 13 people on Friday in an operation in southern Syria, saying they targeted an Islamist group, in Israel's deadliest attack on the country since Bashar al-Assad's overthrow last year.

Iraq said on Thursday it would investigate an attack on an Emirati-owned gas complex in the autonomous Kurdistan region, which disrupted gas supplies and caused power cuts.

Sabah al-Numan, the military spokesman for the Iraqi prime minister, said in a statement that the caretaker PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani had ordered "the formation of a high-level investigative committee" to look into the attack.