Air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem, where AFP journalists reported loud booms overheard, as the Israeli military announced it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen on Thursday.

"Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted," the army said in a statement.

EU lawmakers greenlighted tariffs on fertilizer imports from Russia on Thursday, despite European farmers' fears the move could send prices soaring.

The European Parliament voted 411-100 for a bill that will enact duties in July and gradually increase them to a point where they would make imports unviable.

The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday after a marathon overnight debate to approve President Donald Trump's sprawling domestic policy mega-bill, led by an extension of his first term tax cuts.

The "One Big, Beautiful Bill Act" -- which would slash spending on the Medicaid health insurance program and food aid -- now advances to the Senate, where it is expected to undergo significant changes.

Irish rappers Kneecap on Thursday denied supporting a proscribed group and vowed to "vehemently defend ourselves" after a member of the band was charged with a terror offence for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag at a London concert.

"We deny this 'offence' and will vehemently defend ourselves. This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction," the band said on X.

Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes killed three people on Wednesday as Israel said it targeted Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon, the latest attacks despite a ceasefire with the Iran-backed militant group.

An "Israeli enemy drone" struck a car in Ain Baal in the Tyre region, killing one person, Lebanon's health ministry said.

The main comments made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin at a Jerusalem press conference on Wednesday in which he discussed the Gaza war and tensions with Iran:

- Gaza hostages -

Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot dead late Wednesday outside a Jewish museum in Washington by a gunman who shouted "free Palestine," authorities said, with U.S., Israeli and other world leaders expressing outrage over the killings.

President Donald Trump condemned the attack in the heart of the U.S. capital, saying: "These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!"

Iran and the United States will hold the next round of talks on the Islamic republic's nuclear program in Rome later this week, Tehran and mediator Oman said.

The arch-foes have held four rounds of nuclear talks since April 12, the highest-level contact between them since U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal during his first term.

Algeria and France are currently experiencing their worst crisis since the former French colony won independence in 1962, said the author of a landmark report on France's legacy in the north African nation.

It will take painstaking work, including on historical grievances, to restore trust, Benjamin Stora, one of the world's leading experts on French-Algerian history, added in an interview with AFP.

The Palestinian Authority accused Israeli forces of firing on diplomats as they visited the flashpoint West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday, releasing video of two soldiers aiming rifles at a group of people.

It condemned "the heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces, which deliberately targeted by live fire an accredited diplomatic delegation to the State of Palestine during a field visit to Jenin Governorate." A diplomat present during the visit confirmed to AFP he had heard "repeated shots" coming from inside Jenin refugee camp. An Israeli army spokesperson said: "I am looking into it."