The prime minister of Yemen has been replaced by his foreign minister after the premier submitted the government's resignation, the country's Saudi-backed presidential body said.

The move comes after weeks of tensions between Gulf allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates following a failed push by Abu Dhabi-backed separatists to seize most of Yemen's south.

Civilians fled a Kurdish-held region of northern Syria on Friday before a deadline set by the army, which seeks to expand its control over the area after driving Kurdish forces from Aleppo.

The government is seeking to extend its authority nationwide following the ousting of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday held phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the Kremlin said, offering mediation amid large-scale protests in Iran.

"Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," the Kremlin announced in a statement, asserting "Russia's readiness to continue its mediation efforts."

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa will be visiting Berlin next Tuesday and meet his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German presidency said.

The office of Chancellor Friedrich Merz has yet to announce whether they would also hold talks during the visit, which comes at a time when the German government is seeking to step up repatriations of Syrians to their homeland.

The White House says it is moving into the second phase of President Donald Trump's Gaza ceasefire plan – breathing new life into a proposal that aims to rebuild the war-ravaged area and reshape the wider Middle East.

Trump's Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, broke the news Wednesday in a post on X, saying the new phase will include the establishment of a transitional Palestinian governing committee and begin the complicated tasks of disarming Hamas and reconstruction.

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced the formation of a Gaza "board of peace," a key phase two element of a U.S.-backed plan to end the war in the Palestinian territory.

"It is my Great Honor to announce that THE BOARD OF PEACE has been formed," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, adding that the members of the body will be announced "shortly."

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman led efforts to talk U.S. President Donald Trump out of an attack on Iran, fearing "grave blowbacks in the region", a senior Saudi official told AFP on Thursday.

The Gulf trio "led a long, frantic, diplomatic last-minute effort to convince President Trump to give Iran a chance to show good intention", the official said, on condition of anonymity.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cast the announcement that the fragile ceasefire in Gaza would advance to its second phase as largely symbolic, raising questions about how its more challenging elements will be carried out.

Speaking late Wednesday with the parents of the last Israeli hostage whose remains are still in Gaza, Netanyahu said the governing committee of Palestinians announced as part of the second phase was merely a "declarative move," rather than the sign of progress described by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.

The United States said that it is moving into the next phase of a Gaza ceasefire plan that involves disarming Hamas, rebuilding the war-ravaged territory and establishing the group of Palestinian experts that will administer daily affairs in Gaza under American supervision.

President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff said in a post on X Wednesday that the deal that the Republican president helped broker was entering its second phase following two years of war between Israel and Hamas, including the establishment of a technocratic government in Gaza.

Syria's military said it would open a corridor Thursday for civilians to evacuate an area of Aleppo province that has seen a military buildup following intense clashes between government and Kurdish-led forces in Aleppo city.

The army's announcement late Wednesday — which said civilians would be able to evacuate through the "humanitarian corridor" from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday — appeared to signal plans for an offensive in the towns of Deir Hafer and Maskana and surrounding areas, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) east of Aleppo city.