Syria's opposition leader met Russia's top diplomat on Tuesday in a bid to persuade Moscow to push its ally Damascus to agree to a transitional government for the war-scarred nation.

Syrian National Coalition chief Ahmad Jarba met Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after an inconclusive 10-day peace conference in Geneva ended on Friday without a commitment from Damascus to attend a new round of negotiations set for February 10.

Israel's top court has given the government two months to explain why is has not proposed an alternative route for the West Bank barrier in a valley near Jerusalem.

The decision, handed down by the High Court Monday, relates to an appeal by Palestinian residents of Beit Jala, who say the proposed route will separate them from their olive groves and divide the local Christian community.

The assassination of prominent Tunisian opposition figure Chokri Belaid a year ago Thursday ignited a crisis which is only now starting to ease following the adoption of a new constitution.

On February 6, 2013, Tunisians were stunned to learn of the death of the 48-year-old lawyer and leftist politician who had been a fierce critic of Ennahda, the Islamist party that rose to power after the first Arab Spring uprising toppled a long-ruling dictator.

Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz met interim Egyptian prime minister Hazem al-Beblawi Tuesday to discuss closer cooperation, with the oil-rich Gulf monarchy being a staunch backer of his military-installed government.

The OPEC kingpin pledged billions of dollars in aid to Egypt's new authorities after the overthrow of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in July.

The U.N. World Food Program on Tuesday said it was airlifting supplies to northeastern Syria, where raging violence has made it nearly impossible to truck aid in.

"WFP started airlifting on Tuesday enough food to feed close to 30,000 displaced people for a month from Iraq to Qamishli in northeast Syria," spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said.

Attacks in and around Baghdad killed seven people on Tuesday as Iraqi forces made steady progress against militants in conflict-hit Anbar province where the government lost key territory weeks ago.

The bloodshed comes after more than 1,000 people were killed in January, the worst monthly death toll in nearly six years, as security forces grapple with frequent attacks and battles in Anbar with anti-government fighters, including those loyal to the powerful Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant jihadist group.

Israel's President Shimon Peres Tuesday praised John Kerry's peace efforts, after Israeli hawks attacked the top U.S. diplomat for warning of the growing boycott threat to the Jewish state.

"We thank (Kerry) for his efforts. We encourage him and hope to soon achieve positive results," Peres said in remarks broadcast on military radio after two days of verbal attacks against the U.S. secretary of state by Israeli cabinet ministers.

Egypt's foreign ministry said it summoned Qatar's charge d'affaires in Cairo on Tuesday to demand the handover of Islamist fugitives in exile in Doha.

Relations between the countries deteriorated with the Egyptian military's overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and its subsequent crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood movement, which Qatar backs.

Scores of supporters of al-Jazeera journalists jailed in Egypt demonstrated on Tuesday in Kenya, the base of one of the detained reporters.

"Being a journalist is not a crime," the crowd of around a 100 shouted outside the Egyptian embassy in Nairobi, in a peaceful protest watched over by armed police.

An Egyptian court will begin hearing testimonies in the murder trial of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi from Wednesday, when a former top military officer will give evidence.

In the brief session on Tuesday, the court decided to convene again on Wednesday to hear testimony from the former head of the military's Republican Guard, the unit tasked with providing security for Egypt's presidents.