The United States has called on Baghdad to "take actions" to protect US interests in the country after a flurry of attacks that have been blamed on Iranian-backed groups.

France's national finance prosecutor  called Monday for a four-year prison sentence and a 10 million euro fine for Rifaat al-Assad, uncle of the Syrian president, accused of money laundering related to his vast property empire in France.

King Mohammed VI has called for an easing of bilateral tensions with Algeria, long stoked  by the disputed Western Sahara region, official Moroccan media said Sunday.

Several thousand supporters of one of the most powerful pro-Iranian armed groups in Iraq marched through Baghdad on Saturday, trampling on giant U.S. flags after Washington slapped sanctions on their leader.

Turkish coroners say the British ex-soldier who helped found the Syrian White Helmets rescue group died from a fall, state media reported on Monday.

Qatar's foreign minister has voiced optimism over ending a bitter rift with Saudi Arabia, saying early talks had broken a "stalemate" but Doha was unwilling to alter ties with Turkey as a pre-condition.

Saudi Arabia along with its allies the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut all diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar in June 2017.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday warned Iran of a "decisive" response if US interests are harmed in Iraq, after a series of rocket attacks on bases.

"We must... use this opportunity to remind Iran's leaders that any attacks by them, or their proxies of any identity, that harm Americans, our allies or our interests will be answered with a decisive US response," Pompeo said in a statement.

At 16, Maram is as old as the political system she and fellow Iraqi youth are railing against. But the spunky teen has her own way of protesting: inking tattoos.

With the world's largest trade fair opening in an Arab country for the first time next year, Israel is stepping up preparations, hoping to boost nascent ties with regional neighbors.

From buying an Irish navy boat re-registered as a "pleasure yacht" to enlisting a Canadian firm to recruit Sudanese fighters -- Libya's warring parties are running rings around a UN arms embargo.

That's the upshot of a near-400-word report published this week by UN experts, who accuse an array of firms and external powers of violating a 2011 embargo by delivering arms or fighters to the North African country.