Nine lawyers allied with former President Donald Trump face financial penalties and other sanctions after a judge Wednesday said they had abused the court system with a lawsuit that challenged Michigan's election results in favor of Joe Biden.

U.S. District Judge Linda Parker said the lawsuit last fall was a sham intended to deceive the court and the public, just a few days after Biden's 154,000-vote victory in the state was certified.

Since the Taliban seized the Afghan capital on Aug. 14, more than 82,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan in one of the largest U.S. airlifts in history. While the pace has picked up in recent days, it's still a chaotic scramble as people seek to escape. Afghans trying to reach the Kabul airport face a gauntlet of danger, and there are far more who want to leave than will be able to do so. Those who do make it out will face the many challenges of resettlement, either in the U.S. or somewhere else.

Time may also be running short. President Joe Biden set an Aug. 31 deadline to complete the U.S.-led evacuation, but the president has also asked for contingency plans in case the U.S. still needs to get people out beyond that date.

Iran's hard-liner dominated Parliament on Wednesday voted to approve most of the ministers proposed by newly elected President Ibrahim Raisi, state TV reported.

Lawmakers voted in favor of 18 of 19 ministers proposed by Raisi after five days of hearings and discussions.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said as many as 1,500 Americans may be awaiting evacuation from Afghanistan, a figure that suggests the U.S. may accomplish its highest priority for the Kabul airlift — rescuing U.S. citizens — ahead of President Joe Biden's Tuesday deadline despite growing concerns of terror threats targeting the airport.

Untold thousands of at-risk Afghans, however, were still struggling to get into the Kabul airport, while many thousands of other Afghans already had been flown to safety in 12 days of round-the-clock flights.

Morocco regrets the "completely unjustified" decision of neighboring Algeria to break off diplomatic relations, the country's Foreign Affairs Ministry said Wednesday, calling some of Algeria's reasons "absurd."

Algeria cited a series of alleged hostile acts for the cutting of ties when it announced the decision on Tuesday,.

Hundreds of Palestinians on Wednesday demonstrated near the Israeli border in the southern Gaza Strip, calling on Israel to ease a crippling blockade days after a similar gathering ended in deadly clashes with the Israeli army.

The demonstration wrapped up without a repeat of Saturday's intense clashes after Hamas kept the crowds from approaching the separation wall.

President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett are set to hold their first face-to-face meeting Thursday, and Israel's new leader intends to press Biden to give up pursuit of reviving the Iran nuclear deal.

Before arriving in Washington, Bennett made clear the top priority of the visit to the White House was to persuade Biden not to return to the nuclear accord, arguing Iran has already advanced in its uranium enrichment, and that sanctions relief would give Iran more resources to back Israel's enemies in the region.

Members of the Rolling Stones have saluted their unshakeable drummer Charlie Watts, who died Tuesday at the age of 80.

Mick Jagger, the legendary rock band's frontman, posted a photo on Twitter of a smiling Watts seated behind a drum.

A massive oil spill caused by leakage from a power plant inside one of Syria's oil refineries is spreading along the coast of the Mediterranean country, Syria's state news agency said and satellite photos showed Wednesday.

SANA said the spill reached the coastal town of Jableh, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the refinery in the town of Baniyas, adding that Syria's environment department and the municipality of the coastal province of Latakia have placed all concerned departments on alert. It said work is underway to clean the coast in the rocky areas.

Israel's defense minister on Wednesday accused Iran of launching a deadly drone strike on an oil tanker last month from its territory and reiterated that Israel would act alone if needed to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Benny Gantz spoke as Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was visiting Washington to discuss Iran with Biden administration officials during his first state visit in Washington.