South Africa launched a case Friday at the United Nations' top court accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and asking the court to order Israel to halt its attacks. Israel swiftly rejected the filing "with disgust."

The Israeli-Hamas war has already driven around 85% of Gaza's 2.3 million people from their homes, levelling the northern part of the territory and heightening fears about a similar fate for the south as Israel's air and ground offensive widened Friday.

Amid the ongoing war in Gaza, India on Thursday released the second tranche of 2.5 million US dollars to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), fulfilling its annual commitment of 5 million US dollars for the year 2023-24.

Canadian police are close to arresting two men believed to be responsible for the fatal shooting of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in the British Columbia province in June and are still in the country, according to a media report.

Russia on Wednesday said it supports India's aspirations to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and also praised New Delhi's deft handling of the contentious issues at the G20 Summit as a "true triumph" of its foreign policy.

Abuja (Nigeria): At least 140 people were killed by gunmen who attacked remote villages over two days in north-central Nigeria's Plateau state, survivors and officials said Tuesday in the latest of such mass killings this year blamed on the West African nation's farmer-herder crisis.

An Israeli airstrike on Monday in a Damascus neighbourhood killed a high-ranking Iranian general, Iranian state media said.

The death toll from the 6.2-magnitude earthquake that jolted northwest China earlier this week has risen to 149 with two people still missing.