Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria said Friday that they had handed over a woman and three children to British representatives for repatriation, with a source saying they had been held in a camp for jihadists' relatives.

Five years after the Islamic State group was driven out of its last bastion in Syria, tens of thousands of the jihadists' family members, including from Western countries, remain in detention camps in the Kurdish-controlled northeast.

The annual Jewish pilgrimage on Tunisia's island of Djerba began Friday with low turnout amid heightened security concerns after a deadly attack last year and as the Israel-Hamas war rages in Gaza.

The three-day pilgrimage to the Ghriba synagogue, Africa's oldest, usually draws thousands of pilgrims from Europe, Israel and beyond. It also attracts a significant number of international and local tourists and non-observant visitors.

Saudi Arabia is moving aggressively with its investments in more gaming companies, the Canadian industry veteran steering the kingdom's push to become a global hub for the sector told AFP Friday.

The kingdom has already been spending heavily with a $38-billion push into gaming under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 programme, part of a plan to diversify the economy away from oil.

Campaigners say the gaming push -- accompanied by similar drives in football and other areas -- belies a dire rights record where dissidents are imprisoned and executions are common.

For weeks, refugee Maryam Janhat has been living in fear of deportation as Lebanon cracks down on Syrians, with politicians ramping up calls for them to be forced home.

Refugees from Lebanon's war-torn neighbour face a dilemma: should they stay and contend with stricter measures and growing anti-Syrian sentiment, or should they return home and risk poverty and repression?

Standing at her husband's vegetable stall by the side of the road outside the village of Minyara in Lebanon's impoverished north, Janhat, 38, said she lives in a state of constant worry.

The top UN court ordered Israel Friday to halt military operations in Rafah, a landmark ruling likely to increase international pressure for a ceasefire more than seven months into the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack.

The International Court of Justice also demanded the immediate release of all hostages still held by Palestinian militants, hours after the Israeli military announced troops had recovered the bodies of three more of the captives from northern Gaza.

It is one of the most dramatic storylines ever delivered at Cannes: Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof walked the red carpet Friday after fleeing a prison sentence in his home country just days before the film festival.

He received raucous standing ovations before and after the gala screening of "The Seed of the Sacred Fig", which is competing for the top prize Palme d'Or.

"I hope the entire apparatus of oppression and dictatorship will disappear from Iran," he told the packed Cannes theatre, where he brandished photos of the movie's actors.

The top United Nations court on Friday ordered Israel to halt military operations in Rafah "immediately", a landmark ruling likely to increase mounting international pressure on Israel more than seven months into the Gaza war.

The International Court of Justice also ruled Israel must keep open the key Rafah crossing for "unhindered" humanitarian aid and urged the "unconditional" release of hostages taken by Hamas during its October 7 assault.

The world cannot look to UN peacekeepers as a way of stopping wars, whether in Gaza or other active conflict zones, the department chief told AFP, citing the famous Blue Helmets' inherent limitations.

A mission in the occupied Palestinian territories, for example, is only "very, very, very hypothetical," Under Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said.

The Arab League has called for such a deployment.

Negotiations on a landmark global agreement on handling future pandemics ended Friday without a deal -- though countries said they wanted to keep pushing for an accord.

Scarred by the devastation caused by Covid-19 -- which killed millions of people, shredded economies and crippled health systems -- countries have spent two years trying to hammer out binding commitments on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) chief Philippe Lazzarini said Thursday that Israeli authorities are prioritising the private commercial sector at the main crossing point for goods entering Gaza.

"When it comes to the crossing in Kerem Shalom, the private sector for the time being is being prioritised," Lazzarini told AFP, adding that the development had occurred over the past two weeks.

He said the prioritisation took place at the inspections level, with private sector trucks inspected "before any other trucks".