Ukraine said Tuesday it was engaged in "difficult" battles with Russian forces after Moscow had made rapid advances in a narrow but important section of the front line in the country's east.

Egypt said Tuesday it was working with fellow Gaza mediators Qatar and the United States to broker a 60-day truce, as part of a renewed push to end the Israel-Hamas war.

Syrian and Jordanian foreign ministers and a U.S. envoy agreed on Tuesday to form a working group to help Damascus uphold a ceasefire in Sweida province, rocked by recent sectarian clashes.

Nestled among shops in a bustling market in north Lebanon's Tripoli, Mohammed al-Shaar is at his workshop making traditional tarboosh hats, keeping up a family craft despite dwindling demand.

With a thimble on one finger, Shaar, 38, cuts, sews and carefully assembles the pieces of the conical, flat-topped felt hat also known as a fez, attaching a tassel to the top.

Israeli opposition chief Yair Lapid on Tuesday backed calls for a general strike in solidarity with hostages still held in Gaza.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky said Tuesday that Moscow was not seeking peace in Ukraine and was instead preparing new attacks, ahead of a meeting between the Russian and U.S. leaders.

In a dense urban landscape, with likely thousands of Hamas fighters lying in wait, taking Gaza City will be a difficult and costly slog for the Israeli army, security experts say.

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, said Monday that it was selling its investments in 11 Israeli companies, following reports it had invested in an Israeli jet engine maker even as the war in Gaza raged.

Condemnations poured in from the United Nations and media rights groups on Monday after an Israeli strike killed an Al Jazeera news team in Gaza, as Palestinians mourned the journalists and Israel accused one of them of being a Hamas militant.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he will deploy military and federal law enforcement in Washington as he seeks to curb violent crime in the nation's capital.