French judicial authorities have issued arrest warrants for ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad an six other top former officials over the bombardment of a rebel-held city in 2012 that killed two journalists, lawyers said Tuesday.

Marie Colvin, 56, an American working for The Sunday Times of Britain, and French photographer Remi Ochlik, 28, were killed on February 22, 2012 by the explosion in the eastern city of Homs, which is being investigated by the French judiciary as a potential crime against humanity.

The British pound slumped more than one percent against the dollar Tuesday on concerns over soaring borrowing costs for the UK government.

Sterling shed 1.2 percent to $1.3388, while the euro gained half a percent on the British currency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that any deal to resolve the conflict in Ukraine must not compromise Moscow's security.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin as an "old friend" as the two held a series of meetings Tuesday at a time when their countries face both overlapping and differing challenges from the United States.

Ukraine on Monday urged China, a close ally of Moscow, to work towards peace in Ukraine during a visit to the country by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Given the significant geopolitical role of the People's Republic of China, we would welcome a more active role for Beijing in bringing peace to Ukraine based on respect for the U.N. Charter," Ukraine's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, called on Sunday for dialogue over its weapons, days before the government is expected to approve an army plan to disarm the group.

Months after Hezbollah's devastating war with Israel and under heavy U.S. pressure, Lebanon's government this month tasked the army with drawing up a plan to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year.

Yemen's Houthi rebels on Monday said they had fired a missile at a tanker in the Red Sea, days after their prime minister was killed in an Israeli attack.

Israel said Sunday its forces had killed the spokesman of Hamas' armed wing in a strike on Gaza a day earlier, the latest fatality in the group's senior ranks in the nearly two-year war.

The Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, Eyal Zamir, vowed Sunday to target Hamas leaders abroad after the military killed Abu Obeida, spokesman for the group's military wing, in Gaza the day before.

Violent Israeli airstrikes on Sunday targeted the Ali al-Taher hills in the southern area of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, an area that has been bombed several times since the November ceasefire.

The Israeli army claimed the strikes hit a site run by Hezbollah.