Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu testified on Thursday that he bears no responsibility for the safety gaps that led to a deadly stampede that killed 45 people last year.

The incident, which was the worst civilian disaster in the country's history, took place on Mount Meron in northern Israel during a Jewish festival in April 2021. Around 100,000 worshipers, mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews, attended festivities despite coronavirus regulations limiting outdoor assemblies to 500 people, and in spite of longstanding warnings about the safety of the site.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi declared a day of national mourning Thursday after nine holidaymakers were killed in the bombardment of a Kurdish hill village he blamed on neighboring Turkey.

The bodies were to be flown to Baghdad from the Kurdish regional capital Arbil to be handed over to the families for burial in their hometowns in southern and central Iraq, a Kurdish official said.

Turkey warned on Thursday that it did not need anyone's permission to conduct a new military offensive against suspected Kurdish militants in Syria.

The comments from Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu came two days after a summit in Tehran at which both Russia and Iran urged against Turkey's proposed new campaign in northern Syria.

Sitting outside her tent in a camp in eastern Lebanon, a 30-year-old Syrian refugee contemplated the sunset and her worsening options.

Umm Jawad fled to Lebanon in 2011 to escape a Syrian government siege of her hometown of Homs. She managed to survive over the past decade, despite Lebanon's devastating economic meltdown and souring attitudes toward Syrian refugees.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday called for the resumption of long-stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in order to prevent simmering tensions in one of Middle East's longest conflicts from boiling over again.

Speaking alongside Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the presidential palace in Paris, Macron said the situation in East Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories remains "more than worrying."

Turkish airstrikes killed eight tourists in northern Iraq and wounded over 20, Iraqi Kurdish officials said on Wednesday.

At least four missiles struck the resort area of Barakh in the Zakho district in the semi-autonomous Kurdish-run region, district mayor Mushir Mohammed told The Associated Press. All the casualties were Iraqi citizens.

Egypt and Serbia on Wednesday agreed to boost political, economic and other cooperation as the two countries look for ways to deal with the global impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi was in Serbia on a three-day visit this week — the first in more than three decades by an Egyptian president. His host, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic, said the visit had a "historic character."

Egyptian authorities on Wednesday resumed hot air ballooning over the ancient city of Luxor following a two-day hiatus after two tourists were lightly injured during a ride.

A hot air balloon with 28 tourists drifted off course Monday because of a change in the direction and speed of winds. The balloon was at an altitude of 60 meters (197 feet) when it veered off course.

Syria said Wednesday it is formally breaking diplomatic ties with Ukraine in response to a similar move by Kyiv.

Syria is a strong ally of Russia, which joined Syria's conflict in September 2015 helping tip the balance of power in favor of President Bashar Assad.

Russian President Vladimir Putin won staunch support from Iran on Tuesday for his country's military campaign in Ukraine, with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei saying the West opposes an "independent and strong" Russia.

Khamenei said that if Russia hadn't sent troops into Ukraine, it would have faced an attack from NATO later, a statement that echoed Putin's own rhetoric and reflected increasingly close ties between Moscow and Tehran as they both face crippling Western sanctions. NATO allies have bolstered their military presence in Eastern Europe and provided Ukraine with weapons to help counter the Russian attack.