The United Nations special envoy arrived in Yemen on Wednesday for talks on reopening routes to a rebel-blockaded city that has proved the thorniest problem in implementing a fragile truce.

Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg flew into the capital Sanaa, held by the Iran-backed Huthi insurgents since 2014, less than a week after the truce was renewed for a second period of two months.

An American woman who prosecutors say led an all-female battalion of Islamic State militants in Syria pleaded guilty on Tuesday in a case that a prosecutor called a first of its kind in the United States.

Allison Fluke-Ekren broke down sobbing after admitting in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, a charge that carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence.

The FBI has seized the electronic data of a retired four-star general who authorities say made false statements and withheld "incriminating" documents about his role in an illegal foreign lobbying campaign on behalf of the wealthy Persian Gulf nation of Qatar.

New federal court filings obtained Tuesday outlined a potential criminal case against former Marine Gen. John R. Allen, who led U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan before being tapped in 2017 to lead the influential Brookings Institution think tank.

The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, has concluded a two-day visit to Ankara, Türkiye.

During the visit he met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, and senior representatives from Turkish aid institutions and Turkish parliamentarians to raise awareness of the current challenges facing Palestine refugees and discuss expanding UNRWA-Türkiye relations.

U.N. investigators on Tuesday blamed Israel's continued occupation and discrimination against Palestinians for the endless cycles of violence in the decades-long conflict, prompting angry Israeli protests.

Israel's government has failed to pass a bill extending legal protections for settlers in the occupied West Bank, marking a major setback for the fragile coalition that could hasten its demise and send Israel to new elections.

The failure to renew the bill also highlighted the separate legal systems in the West Bank, where nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers enjoy the benefits of Israeli citizenship while some 3 million Palestinians live under military rule that is now well into its sixth decade. Three major human rights groups have said the situation amounts to apartheid, an allegation Israel rejects as an assault on its legitimacy.

The White House has defended plans for President Joe Biden to meet with Saudi Arabia's crown prince, despite U.S. intelligence determining that he ordered the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Syrian air defiance intercepted Israeli missiles south of Damascus overnight, with no casualties reported, a military source told Syria's official news agency SANA.

Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid queue bumper-to-bumper amid the olive groves at the Turkish-Syrian border, waiting to be allowed across into war-torn Syria.

Inside are baby nappies and blankets, but also 15-kilo (33-pound) bags of flour, bulghur wheat, sugar, chickpeas and peanut-based pastes for children suffering from malnutrition.

Tunisian judges launched a week-long strike Monday in protest at President Kais Saied's "interference" in the judiciary, days after he sacked 57 of their colleagues. 

Saied -- who suspended parliament in a power grab last July -- issued a new decree last week extending his control over the judiciary, his latest move against the only democratic system to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings.