The Kremlin said on Tuesday a deal to create a buffer zone in Syria's Idlib was going ahead, despite jihadists missing a deadline to leave the area the day before.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have carried out 700 drone strikes against forces of the Islamic State group (IS) in Syria, its aerospace chief told conservative news agency Fars on Tuesday.

The United Arab Emirates has charged a British PhD student with spying in the Gulf country, as his wife Tuesday called on Britain to defend his innocence.

Israel's defence minister said Tuesday that months of violent Palestinian protests on the Gaza border cannot be allowed to go on, urging cabinet colleagues to back tougher measures.

The UN human rights chief called Tuesday for the lifting of the immunity of officials who might be involved in the disappearance of a Saudi Arabian journalist at the kingdom's consulate in Turkey.

US top diplomat Mike Pompeo held talks with Saudi King Salman on Tuesday seeking answers about the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, amid US media reports the kingdom may be mulling an admission he died during a botched interrogation.

Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has fired the prime minister, accusing him of "negligence" in running the country.

In a decree late Monday, Hadi's office said Ahmed bin Dagher was guilty of poor economic performance and failure to avert a collapse of the currency.

A team of Turkish police investigators and prosecutors on Tuesday left the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after conducting an unprecedented eight-hour night-time search agreed after the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Facing a domestic backlash and the threat of foreign trade retaliation, Australia's Prime Minister on Tuesday appeared to slow-peddle a controversial decision to move the country's embassy to Jerusalem, saying he would first consult with allies.

A Saudi military trainer aircraft crashed while on a training mission in the northwest of the kingdom, killing the crew, the defence ministry said on Tuesday.