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ATHENS (Reuters) -Firefighters battled to put out wildfires on Monday in three separate provinces in Turkey and near a tourist resort in Albania, stoked by strong winds after days of searing heat across the Mediterranean region.

Smoke billowed over the mountainous Black Sea province of Karabuk, some 200 kilometres north of the capital Ankara, as a wildfire which raged for a sixth day forced the evacuation of more than a dozen villages and burnt swathes of forests.

In the northwestern province…

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Olivia Le Poidevin

CAIRO/GENEVA (Reuters) -A long-term steady supply of aid is needed to counter the worsening hunger crisis in Gaza, U.N. agencies said on Monday after mounting pressure prompted Israel to ease restrictions in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel carried out an air drop and announced a series of measures over the weekend, including daily humanitarian pauses in three areas of Gaza and new safe corridors for aid convoys, after images of starving children…

The Israeli army said Sunday that it had dismissed and jailed three soldiers for refusing to return to fighting in the Gaza Strip.

A military statement said the three soldiers, from the Nahal Infantry Brigade’s 931st Battalion, were jailed between seven and 12 days in a military prison.

According to the public broadcaster KAN, the dismissed soldiers cited a “deep internal crisis” as the reason for their refusal to return to fighting in Gaza.

KAN cited one…

Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank overnight, torching cars and spray-painting threatening graffiti, a witness and the Palestinian Authority said Monday.

Jeries Azar, a Taybeh resident and journalist for Palestine TV, told AFP his house and car were targeted in the pre-dawn assault.

“I looked outside and saw my car on fire, and they were throwing something at the vehicle and in the direction of the house,” Azar said.

The Palestinian…

Truckloads of food reached hungry Gazans on Monday after Israel promised to open secure aid routes, but humanitarian agencies warned vast amounts more were needed to stave off starvation.

With Gaza’s population of more than two million facing famine and malnutrition, Israel bowed to international pressure at the weekend and announced a daily “tactical pause” in fighting in some areas.

“For the first time, I received about five kilos of flour, which I shared with my neighbour,” said 37-year-old…