In Israel's divisive debate over the government's planned legal overhaul, proponents claim that curtailing the power of judges and courts is good for the country.

But, as their opponents often counter, other factors may be in play: Some of the leading politicians clamoring for these changes either face legal problems or believe the courts are obstructing their ideological agendas.

A Turkish drone strike in northern Iraq killed two Yazidi fighters affiliated with the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Wednesday, the second such action this week, Iraqi Kurdish officials said.

Both strikes were carried out in Sinjar district, one of the heartlands of Iraq's non-Muslim Yazidi minority, which endured massacres and sex slavery during the brief but brutal rule of the Islamic State jihadist group in 2014.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus visited rebel-held northwestern Syria on Wednesday, his first trip to areas outside Damascus's control since a devastating quake last month, an AFP correspondent reported.

Tedros was the highest-ranking United Nations official to visit the rebel-held zones since the February 6 quake.

Weeks of anti-government protests in Israel turned violent on Wednesday for the first time as police fired stun grenades and a water cannon at demonstrators who blocked a Tel Aviv highway. The crackdown came shortly after Israel's hard-line security minister urged a tough response to what he said were "anarchists."

The violence came as thousands across the country launched a "national disruption day" against the government's plan to overhaul Israel's judicial system. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's allies say the program is meant reduce the influence of unelected judges.

Hungary's Prime Minister Victor Orban has thanked Egypt for its role in capping Europe-bound migration as the two countries inked a series of preliminary agreements in Cairo.

Orban's praise for Egypt, and its president, Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, came during his visit to the Egyptian capital in which the two governments signed various memorandums of understanding in nuclear cooperation, education and sports. Few further details were immediately given about the deals.

A group of women stands in front of a vegetable vendor at a street market in one of Cairo's oldest neighborhoods, yelling in frustration.

"Every day there are new prices," one said. "When will this war end?" another shouted, cradling a baby in her arms.

Germany's foreign minister voiced concern about the Israeli government's plans to overhaul the country's legal system during a visit Tuesday by her Israeli counterpart, and said that introducing the death penalty for Palestinians convicted in deadly attacks would be "a big mistake."

Israel has seen large and regular protests in recent weeks against the judicial overhaul proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new coalition government, which includes a bill that would enable lawmakers to overturn a Supreme Court decision with a simple majority.

A state of emergency that had been periodically renewed by Moroccan authorities for the past three years to battle the Covid pandemic lapsed without extension on Tuesday.

First declared on March 24, 2020 as the pandemic swept across the globe, the emergency had allowed authorities to take exceptional measure to battle the spread of the virus, including lockdowns, border closures and restrictions on movement and gatherings, including sports events. 

An ultranationalist ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tendered his resignation as a deputy minister in the new government.

Avi Maoz's departure was the first crack in Netanyahu's ruling coalition, which assumed office in late December after securing a parliamentary majority in the November elections.

A suspected Palestinian gunman has shot and killed an Israeli motorist in the occupied West Bank, the latest bloodshed in a fresh wave of fighting that showed no signs of slowing.

The killing occurred a day after two Israelis were killed by a Palestinian gunman in the northern West Bank, triggering a rampage in which Israeli settlers torched dozens of cars and homes in a Palestinian town and one Palestinian was killed. It was the worst such violence in decades.