Israeli media have reported the existence of an audiotape that is increasing pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing an inquiry into corruption allegations.

Iran's ex-President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a dominant figure in the country's politics since the 1980s, has died at the age of 82, media say.

At least four Israeli soldiers have been killed and several more wounded after a truck rammed into the troops in Jerusalem with authorities calling it a deliberate attack.

At least 12 people have been killed and 50 wounded in a car bomb blast in eastern Baghdad, police and medics say, in an attack claimed by the armed group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Turkey has dismissed more than 6,000 people and ordered the closure of dozens of associations under the state of emergency imposed after the failed coup in July, in a purge that showed no sign of slowing.

More than 100,000 people have already been suspended or sacked so far in a crackdown on those alleged to have links to coup plotters while dozens of media outlets have been shut down.

At least nine people have been killed and 15 others wounded in a car bomb attack that hit a market in a mostly Shia neighbourhood of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

The identity of the gunman who killed 39 people in the New Year's attack on an Istanbul nightclub has been established, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said in a televised interview.

Israeli police have questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of an inquiry into corruption allegations.

He was asked about "receiving benefits from business people", justice ministry officials said without giving details.

ISIL members attacked an Iraqi police checkpoint near the southern city of Najaf, killing seven policemen as government forces in the north made more gains against the fighters in Mosul, their last major stronghold in the country.

The Syrian government has suspended the evacuation of civilians and fighters from eastern Aleppo, accusing rebels of breaking terms of the deal.

Government sources said rebels had blocked the evacuation of civilians from two pro-government towns elsewhere in Syria, agreed under the truce.

Five years since the conflict began, more than 450,000 Syrians have been killed in the fighting, more than million injured and over 12 million Syrians - half the country's prewar population - have been displaced from their homes.

In 2011, what became known as the "Arab Spring" revolts toppled Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Taliban fighters publicly hanged a university student after accusing him of killing a senior intelligence officer.

Twelve civilians are reported to have been killed in a Saudi-led coalition air strike in north-western Yemen.

Residents and an official said the victims were travelling in a pick-up truck that was targeted in the Hiran district of Hajja province.

They had been heading to a local market, according to the residents.

There was no immediate comment from the coalition, which is fighting the Houthi rebel movement in a bid to restore the internationally recognised government.

The coalition says it does not target civilians, but the UN says air strikes have caused the majority of the more than 4,125 civilian deaths recorded since the conflict in Yemen escalated in March 2015.

Wednesday's incident comes two days after a 48-hour cessation of hostilities ended.

Both sides accused each other of repeated violations of the truce, which brought a brief respite from air strikes for residents of the rebel-controlled capital, Sanaa.

Fighting con

Egypt's highest appeal court has overturned a life sentence handed down to ousted President Mohammed Morsi.

Saudi Arabia has denied that the Arab coalition it spearheads violated a 48-hour ceasefire by launching air strikes against the Houthi rebels in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.