An iconic Gaza bookstore destroyed in an Israeli airstrike last year has reopened, lifting the spirits of its ecstatic owner and a large crowd of well-wishers celebrating the moment.

The five-story building that housed Samir Mansour's bookstore on its ground floor was reduced to rubble during the 11-day war between Israel and the Palestinian territory's Hamas rulers in May. The 100,000 books at the shop became piles of torn papers mired in ash and dust.

A year ago, Libya looked to be on a fragile path toward democracy, after more than a decade of civil war. Now, it appears to be sliding back toward strife and division.

After tentative steps towards unity, the country is once again being pulled apart, with two rival prime ministers claiming power.

The Jordanian military says a crackdown on drug smugglers along the Syrian border is delivering results.

During a media tour along the Syrian border on Thursday, Col. Mustafa al-Hiyari said the military was forced into action in response to increased smuggling activity and violence. In January, an army officer was killed in a shootout with smugglers.

The Russian military on Friday announced massive drills of its strategic forces, a stark reminder of the country's nuclear might amid Western fears that Moscow might be preparing to invade Ukraine.

The Defense Ministry said Russian President Vladimir Putin will personally oversee Saturday's exercise, which will involve multiple practice launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.

Saudi Arabia is signaling it isn't willing to pump more oil and won't push for changes to an agreement with Russia and other producers that has kept a lid on oil production levels.

This has Washington concerned as gasoline prices rise and tensions with Russia over Ukraine fuel market uncertainty.

The Israeli military said it has shot down an unmanned aircraft launched by Hizbullah into Israeli airspace.

The incident occurred just a day after Hizbullah's chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said his group has been manufacturing military drones in Lebanon and has the technology to turn thousands of missiles in its possession into precision-guided munitions.

A Syrian military helicopter crash-landed in a rugged mountainous area during a training mission in the country's northwest on Thursday, leaving two of the five crew members dead.

State media quoted an unnamed military official as saying that the helicopter faced technical problems while flying over the coastal province of Latakia and crash-landed in a mountainous area.

It was night when Zakia Kachar heard the sounds of footsteps approach her tent in a detention camp for foreigners affiliated with Islamic State group extremists. With rocks in their hands, the wives of IS fighters had come for her.

She fled with her children to another area of the Roj Camp in northeast Syria. "They wanted to kill me," she said.

A long-haul Emirates flight heading to Washington in December failed to properly climb and flew incredibly low and fast over the city-state before later gaining altitude over the sea, investigators acknowledged Thursday.

No one was injured in the Dec. 19 flight, but such low altitudes and high speeds can cause damage to an aircraft and increases the risk of striking a tall building. Tracking data suggests Flight No. EK231 was just 200 feet off the ground at points as it flew over Dubai's Deira neighborhood before reaching the Persian Gulf.

European Union leader held a short summit meeting Thursday to push the chances of diplomacy to unlock the standoff over Ukraine and reaffirm their joint determination to impose massive sanctions if Russia invades its neighbor.

The hastily called summit preceded a two-day EU-Africa meeting which brought the 27 EU leaders to Brussels. It did not go into deep detail of what sanctions should be used and how those measures would hit the economies of the member states.