The world's chemical weapons watchdog said Wednesday it was "disturbed" by the alleged use of toxic chemicals in Aleppo after dozens of people had to be treated for breathing problems in the Syrian battlefront city.

Eight members of the rebel Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) have been killed in clashes with security forces along the Iraqi border, state media reported Wednesday.

The Syrian government has begun releasing 169 prisoners in exchange for the return of the bodies of five Russian soldiers killed when their helicopter was downed, a lawyer said Wednesday.

Hundreds of civilians on Wednesday began returning to the border town of Jarabulus in northern Syria, two weeks after pro-Ankara fighters recaptured it from Islamic State (IS) jihadists.

A Palestinian killed by Israeli police this week was not attempting a car-ramming attack on officers as had been initially claimed, Israeli police admitted on Wednesday.

Gulf Arab states accused Iran on Wednesday of trying to politicize the hajj after its supreme leader lashed out at Saudi authorities over their management of the annual pilgrimage.

Despite being emotionally scarred by the death of two childhood friends during last year's hajj stampede, Muhammad Sani has still returned to Saudi Arabia for another pilgrimage.

At least 22 people were killed in a bus collision and five died when a train derailed in separate accidents south of Cairo Wednesday during a busy holiday travel time.

Tunisia's government has asked a military court to outlaw the radical Islamist Hizb ut-Tahrir movement, which has been regularly accused of "undermining public order" since its legalization in 2012, an official said Wednesday.

Turkey on Wednesday said it was in favor of a joint operation with the United States to oust Islamic State (IS) jihadists from their de facto capital of Raqa in northern Syria.