For months, Istanbul restaurant Tarihi Balikca tried to absorb the surging cost of the sunflower oil its cooks use to fry fish, squid and mussels.

But in early April, with oil prices nearly four times higher than they were in 2019, the restaurant finally raised its prices. Now, even some longtime customers look at the menu and walk away.

An Israeli parliamentary committee has sanctioned a breakaway member of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's party, handing a small political victory to the Israeli leader as he seeks to stabilize his fragile government and deter any other rebel lawmakers.

The Knesset committee voted 7-0 on Monday to declare Amichai Chikli a "defector," a status that bars him from joining a rival party in the current parliament in the country's next election. Bennett had requested the vote.

Cabinet Tuesday tasked the armed forces with investigating how an over packed migrant boat capsized, a tragedy some survivors have blamed on the military.

The government "tasked army command with conducting a transparent investigation into the circumstances behind the incident under the supervision of the relevant judicial authority," said Information Minister Ziad Makari.

A key partner in Israel's governing coalition has said that all the factions are working to try and keep the fragile coalition afloat, less than a year after it was sworn into office. The coalition has come under threat by internal squabbles and escalating violence with the Palestinians.

Earlier this month a member of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's party split from the ruling coalition, leaving the government without a majority in parliament and raising the possibility of yet another national election after years of political chaos.

Russia's top diplomat warned Ukraine against provoking World War III and said the threat of a nuclear conflict "should not be underestimated" as his country unleashed attacks against rail and fuel installations far from the front lines of Moscow's new eastern offensive.

Meanwhile, the British Defense Ministry said Tuesday that Russian forces had taken the Ukrainian city of Kreminna in the Lukansk region after days of street-to-street fighting.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to bolster his nuclear forces at "maximum speed" and threatened to use them if provoked in a speech he delivered during a military parade that featured powerful weapons systems targeting the United States and its allies, state media reported Tuesday.

His remarks suggest he will continue provocative weapons tests in a pressure campaign to wrest concessions from the U.S. and other rivals. The parade Monday night was to mark the 90th anniversary of North Korea's army — the backbone of the Kim family's authoritarian rule — and comes as the country faces an economy battered by pandemic-related difficulties, punishing U.S.-led sanctions and its own mismanagement.

When Vladimir Putin congratulated Emmanuel Macron on his re-election as France's president and wished him "success in your activities," the Russian leader probably was being more polite than sincere.

As he embarks on a second term, with the intention of keeping France at the forefront of international efforts to force Putin to change course in Ukraine, Macron has given a green light for the delivery of modern artillery pieces to Kyiv that could help stem Russia's new offensive in the east of the country.

Israel said Monday it will reopen its border crossing with the Gaza Strip to Palestinian workers after closing it for several days following rocket attacks from the Palestinian enclave.

COGAT, the Israeli military body coordinating civilian affairs in Gaza, said the opening of the Erez Crossing on Tuesday would be conditioned "on the maintenance of a stable security situation in the area."

Funerals were held across northern Lebanon on Monday for seven people killed when a boat packed with migrants sunk over the weekend as the Lebanese navy tried to force it back to shore.

The small vessel was carrying nearly 60 people -- many times its capacity -- when the disaster struck on Saturday night. The tragedy was the latest in a growing trend involving mostly Lebanese and Syrians trying to travel to Europe from Lebanon in search of better lives.

Israeli tanks fired into southern Lebanon early Monday in response to a rocket fired from the country, the Israeli military said.

In a statement, the Israeli army said the rocket landed in an open area in northern Israel early Monday, causing no damage or injuries. Shortly after, the military said it struck "the sources of the projectile launched and an infrastructure target in southern Lebanon." It said "routine activity" in northern Israel was continuing and there were no special precautions being asked of civilians in the area.