Syrian and Russian warplanes carried out dozens of air strikes on rebel-held districts of Aleppo on Friday, a monitor said, as world powers prepared for new talks on a ceasefire.

Waves 2.5m high, winds of 50kph and a sinking dinghy: rescuers yesterday described a race into Libyan waters to save 113 migrants, with 15 others lost to the raging sea.

Great white pelicans land at a water reservoir in Mishmar HaSharon, north of the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

Syria’s military backed by Russian warplanes have killed more than 150 people in eastern Aleppo this week say rescue workers, part of a renewed bombardment supporting an offensive to seize the city’s shattered rebel-held sector.

The tomb of Tyr and its restored frescos put on display in the newly inaugurated basement section of Beirut’s National Museum.

Sultan Qaboos of Oman is in “good health”, the country’s foreign minister said yesterday, as rumours circulated that the 75-year-old monarch had been hospitalised.

The facade of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, was lit up in pink yesterday night to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer.

Turkey’s foreign minister and his Arab counterparts in the Gulf yesterday condemned “indiscriminate” air strikes on Syria’s Aleppo and expressed “deep regret” at the UN’s inability to stop the raids.

Israeli security forces have arrested three Arab Israelis accused of planning attacks inspired by the Islamic State group, including an arson attack on concert-goers, authorities said Thursday.

An air strike on a Yemeni funeral ceremony which killed at least 140 people "is an apparent war crime," Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

Russian and Syrian warplanes pounded Aleppo again on Thursday after two days of heavy bombardment that killed more than 70 civilians, as world powers prepared for last-ditch weekend talks on a ceasefire.

The US military launched cruise missile strikes on Thursday to knock out three coastal radar sites in areas of Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi forces, retaliating after failed missile attacks this week on a US Navy destroyer, US officials said.