Middle East & North Africa

DAMASCUS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Four children have been killed and eight others wounded by landmine explosions in Syria since the start of the year, a war monitor said Wednesday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said three children were killed and six wounded by mines in government-held areas, while one was killed and two wounded in areas controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the northeast.

TUNIS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- World Bank on Wednesday predicted that Tunisia's economy could grow 3 percent in both 2024 and 2025.

The fresh World Bank's Global Economic Prospects report said the 3 percent growth is subject to risks created by the evolution of the drought.

The report also estimated that Tunisia's GDP growth for 2023 at 1.2 percent, a downward revision of 1.1 percent from the June 2023 forecasts.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired their largest-ever barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea, forcing the United States and British navies to shoot down the projectiles in a major naval engagement, authorities said Wednesday. No damage was immediately reported.

BEIT RIMA, West Bank (AP) — Security camera video from a West Bank village shows a young man standing in a central square when he is suddenly shot and drops to the ground. Two others rushing to his aid are also hit, leaving a 17-year-old dead, moments before Israeli military jeeps roll in.

An Associated Press review of the video and interviews with the two wounded survivors showed Israeli soldiers opened fire on the three when they did not appear to pose a threat. One of the wounded Palestinians was shot a second time after he got up and tried to hop away.

AL BUREIJ, Gaza, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Israeli forces located what they said was the largest weapons production site so far found in Gaza, with underground workshops they said were used to produce long-range missiles capable of hitting targets in northern Israel.

The military said that in addition to missiles, the workshops produced copies or adaptations of standard munitions like mortar shells and were connected through underground shafts to a tunnel network used to transport the weapons to fighting units throughout the Gaza Strip.

TEHRAN, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- A blast and a consequent fire at a cosmetics factory in northern Iran injured 53 people and damaged the factory's building and equipment on Tuesday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

The explosion of a gas cylinder used for filling cosmetic sprays sparked the fire at the factory in Simin Dasht Industrial Park in Fardis County, Alborz province, Fars cited the county's fire department chief Hossein Ashouri as saying.

DAMASCUS, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- A military bus carrying Syrian soldiers was hit by an explosive device in the desert near the ancient city of Palmyra in Homs Province on Tuesday, killing nine people and wounding 13 others, the Syrian Defense Ministry said.

The ministry specified that the fatalities included eight soldiers and one civilian, attributing the attack to "terrorists."

ISTANBUL, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Public transport fares in Türkiye's largest city, Istanbul, have been increased as of Tuesday, sparking public outrage.

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Transport Coordination Centre (UKOME) announced an 18 percent increase in public transport fares and a 28 percent increase in taxi fares.

The minimum fare for the shortest trip in a taxi rose to 90 liras, or 3 U.S. dollars, and a full-fare ticket jumped from 15 liras to 17.70 liras.

JERUSALEM, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz confirmed on Monday evening that Israel was behind the assassination of an elite Hezbollah commander, Wissam Hassan Tawil, in Lebanon, reported Israeli media.

"Regarding the elimination in southern Lebanon, we took responsibility for it," Katz said, cited by Israel's Ynet news website. The minister said the killing was part of the ongoing conflicts on the Israel-Lebanon border.

GHANDOURIYEH, Lebanon (AP) — Israel’s military said no damage was caused to one of its army bases in northern Israel after Hezbollah said it launched explosive drones Tuesday toward the area, while an Israeli drone strike in Lebanon killed three members of the militant group, officials said.

The Israeli military did not specify exactly where the base was located. Hezbollah said it targeted the Israeli army’s northern command headquarters in Safed with several drones.