Greenpeace on Friday slammed an Israeli minister who accused Iran of "environmental terrorism" after a devastating oil spill in the Mediterranean.

Pope Francis arrived in Iraq on Friday to urge the country's dwindling number of Christians to stay put and help rebuild the country after years of war and persecution, brushing aside the coronavirus pandemic and security concerns to make his first-ever papal visit.

The pope, who wore a facemask during the flight, kept it on as he descended the stairs to the tarmac and was greeted by two masked children in traditional dress. But health measures appeared lax inside the airport despite the country's worsening coronavirus outbreak.

Israel has yet to decide whether it will cooperate with the International Criminal Court's investigation into alleged crimes in the Palestinian territories, a senior Justice Ministry official said Thursday.

The decision by the court's outgoing prosecutor to probe Israeli military actions and settlement construction on lands captured in the 1967 Mideast war was announced Wednesday and condemned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as "the essence of anti-Semitism and hypocrisy."

The White House has warned that the U.S. may consider a military response to the rocket attack on Wednesday that hit an air base in western Iraq where American and coalition troops are housed, raising concerns this could trigger a new round of escalating violence.

A U.S. contractor died after at least 10 rockets slammed into the base. And while no group claimed responsibility, it was the first strike since the U.S. bombed Iran-aligned militia targets along the Iraq-Syria border last week.

The new U.S. envoy to the United Nations on Thursday accused Russia of seeking to stymie efforts to hold the government of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad accountable for its use of chemical weapons during its long civil war.

Israel's environmental protection minister on Thursday stood by her allegation that a crude oil spill in the eastern Mediterranean last month was an intentional attack by Iran but provided no evidence for her claim.

Defense officials remained silent about the charge by Gila Gamliel, a junior minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, who on Wednesday announced that she had concluded the Iranian government deliberately spilled tons of crude oil into the sea in an attempt to damage Israel's marine ecosystem.

A Turkish court trying 26 Saudi suspects in absentia for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Thursday refused to admit a US report blaming the kingdom's crown prince for the killing.

On the eve of his trip to Iraq, Pope Francis paid tribute on Thursday to those who have suffered from years of violence, saying he came as a "pilgrim of peace".

Yemen's Huthi rebels claimed a missile strike Thursday on a plant of energy giant Saudi Aramco in the western Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah amid an escalation in cross-border attacks on the kingdom.

Kuwait's new Cabinet was sworn in Wednesday, state-run media reported, weeks after the government quit amid a deepening deadlock with parliament that has blocked badly needed reforms in the tiny oil-rich Gulf Arab state.

Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah swapped out four ministers whose selections had angered various lawmakers for less contentious, veteran politicians, an apparent gesture to appease parliament.