Talks to end Syria's brutal five-year conflict were to resume in Geneva Wednesday, although the negotiations were likely to be overshadowed by a surge of violence that threatened a fragile truce.

Adding more tension, Syrians began voting in government-controlled areas in a parliamentary election which is not recognized by the United Nations or by President Bashar Assad's main opponents.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hit back Wednesday at criticism of a deal to hand Saudi Arabia two islands and of the probe into an Italian student's murder, saying "evil" people were conspiring against Egypt.

Sisi is weathering a storm of controversy over a deal announced at the weekend that set maritime boundaries with Saudi Arabia, placing two islands in the Red Sea within the kingdom's borders.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week welcomes dozens of leaders to Istanbul for a summit aimed at overcoming splits in the Islamic world despite doubts over Ankara's ability to narrow divisions between Muslims.

Yemeni rebels killed a senior loyalist officer on Wednesday and deadly clashes erupted elsewhere in the country despite a U.N.-brokered ceasefire, sources said.

The fragile truce has been in place since midnight Sunday and is meant to lay the groundwork for peace talks next week in Kuwait.

Dubai's Emirates airline said Wednesday it had ordered two more Airbus A380 planes, raising the carrier's total orders for the superjumbo aircraft to 142.

The two new planes will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2017, said a statement by Emirates, which already has 75 A380s in service.

Angry fans of seven-time champions AC Milan have turned on club president Silvio Berlusconi for sacking Sinisa Mihajlovic and appointing yet another coach with no top level experience.

"Mihajlovic is just the latest innocent (coach) to pay for the mismanagement of the club, all with the complicit approval of President Berlusconi," a prominent supporters group said on Wednesday.

Beijing has summoned top diplomatic representatives from the Group of Seven nations to express anger at their statement on the South China Sea, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.

"China summoned the diplomatic envoys of relevant countries," foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular press briefing, without elaborating.

Suspected ethnic Fulani herders killed at least 15 villagers and burnt down homes in Taraba state in eastern Nigeria in a dispute over grazing rights, police said on Wednesday.

State police spokesman Kwaji Joseph told AFP the incident happened on Sunday when the herdsmen stormed Dori and Mesuma in the Gashaka local government area.

OPEC warned Wednesday that the world remains awash with crude ahead of a crunch meeting in Doha between cartel members and other major producers to discuss a production freeze to boost the oil price.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its April monthly report that oil prices rose more than 20 percent in March, continuing a slow recovery from the huge drop of 2014-15.

Saudi Arabia has stripped its frequently criticized religious police of their powers to arrest, urging them to act "kindly and gently" in enforcing Islamic rules.

Some Saudis called the move long overdue.