In Middle East this week, civilians in Yemen facing increasing food, fuel and medicine shortages hoped for the start of a proposed five-day humanitarian cease-fire to halt fighting between a Saudi-led coalition and Shiite rebels and their allies.

Yemen has been targeted in airstrikes since March 26 by the coalition, which is trying to halt the advance of the rebels, known as Houthis. Strikes in the past week included an assault on the international airport in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, which saw a military transport plane destroyed on the runway.

Meanwhile, an Egyptian court sentenced ousted longtime leader Hosni Mubarak and his two sons to three years in prison on corruption charges in a retrial.

In Israel, thousands of people, mostly from Israel's Jewish Ethiopian minority, protested against racism and police brutality.

An Afghan judge sentenced four men to death and eight to 16 years in prison over the mob killing of a 27-year-old woman in Kabul, an attack that shocked the nation. Another 18 were freed for lack of evidence, while 19 police officers await a verdict in the case.

And in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates announced that its planned 2020 probe mission to Mars called "Hope" will study the red planet's atmosphere