France is hosting an international conference on Libya on Friday as the North African country heads into long-awaited elections next month, a vote that regional and world powers hope will pull the oil-rich nation out of its decade-old chaos.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and several world leaders will take part in the Paris conference, and are expected to push for transparent, credible elections. They will also urge the withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign forces from Libya, as stated in last year's U.N.-brokered cease-fire that ended fighting between rival factions in the country.

Syria has signed a deal with United Arab Emirates firms for the construction of a solar power plant near Damascus, state media said Thursday, in a sign of growing economic ties.

In what it called a world first, Israel on Thursday held a "war game drill" in case of an outbreak of a new lethal variant of Covid-19.

The designated chief executive of NSO, the Israeli firm infamous for phone hacking, is resigning less than two weeks after being nominated, a source close to the company said Thursday.

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are holding their first joint naval exercise with Israel, a year after normalizing ties with the Jewish state, the US Navy said on Thursday.

The five-day maneuvers in the Red Sea, which is linked to the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal,  are intended to "enhance interoperability between participating forces", a statement said.

Algeria has welcomed comments from the office of French President Emmanuel Macron expressing regret over a row sparked by his criticism of the former French colony.

Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra also confirmed Algerian officials would attend a conference on Libya in Paris, although not President Abdelmadjid Tebboune himself.

A Spanish woman has admitted under a plea bargain reached in an Israeli military court that she raised large sums of money that were diverted to a banned militant group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Israel seized on the conviction as proof that it was justified in branding six Palestinian civil society organizations as terrorist groups last month. But the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a separate group, court documents suggest the woman knew little about the scheme and she was not implicated in any militant activities by the PFLP.

Iraq's prime minister has toured a Baghdad neighborhood on foot, three days after he escaped an assassination attempt at his home in the Iraqi capital.

In his first public appearance outside his residence since the attack, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi's office said some residents of the eastern neighborhood of Sadr City congratulated him for surviving Sunday's drone attack, in which he was lightly injured.

Thousands of Tunisians went on strike and rallied after a demonstrator died of tear gas inhalation during angry demonstrations over the reopening of a rubbish dump, as environmental crises mount in the North African country.

Abderrazek Lacheheb, 35, died early Tuesday in Agareb, in the Sfax region on the central coast, after security forces used tear gas to disperse protesters. 

The Palestinian prime minister has warned Israel that its refusal to accept a two-state solution to the century-old conflict would perpetuate a system of "apartheid" and eventually result in a one-state reality in which Israel loses its Jewish character.

The Israeli government sworn in last June consists of parties from across the political spectrum, including supporters and opponents of Palestinian statehood. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state and has refused to meet with Palestinian officials.