US special operations forces are helping Emirati and local forces as they conduct new operations against Al-Qaeda in Yemen, the Pentagon said Friday.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayed Hassan Nasrallah denied existence of any cells affiliated to Hezbollah in Kuwait, which lodged formal protest, accusing the party of training and arming 21 people.

A Saudi man was shot dead helping evacuate residents from the town of Awamiya.

Three women and six children from the same family were killed in an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition on their home in northern Yemen on Friday.

Oman on Wednesday announced it has taken out a $3.55 billion loan from Chinese banks to cover its budget deficit for the current fiscal year.

Hassan Rouhani won the endorsement of Iran's supreme leader for his second term of president on Thursday after an easy election win, pledging to open Iran to foreign trade and investment but facing internal hardline resistance and renewed U.S. antagonism.

Qatar has concluded a 5 billion euro ($5.91 billion) deal with Italy for seven navy vessels, the Qatari foreign minister said on Wednesday, part of a military cooperation agreement between the two countries.

Iran said new sanctions imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday break the terms of its nuclear deal with the United States and other world powers, and vowed an "appropriate and proportional" response.

Attacks on the Iraqi embassy and a Shi'ite mosque in Afghanistan have reinforced fears that Islamic State militants are seeking to bring the group's Middle East conflict to Central Asia, though evidence of fighters relocating from Iraq and Syria remains elusive.

Bahrain Embassy in London warned Bahraini citizens, visitors and residents in the UK to avoid walking in alleys and dark areas and to avoid carrying valuable belongings in public due to the increasing robberies and assaults using liquid substances, such as acid in different tourist attractions in London.

Qatar plans to allow some expatriates to obtain permanent residency, state news agency QNA reported, in the first move of its kind among Gulf Arab states that rely heavily on foreign labor.

The Canadian government is investigating reports that Saudi Arabia is using armoured vehicles made in Canada against its own civilians.

The Middle East Monitor reported that the managing director of Al Jazeera English, said: “It’s as absurd as it would be for Germany to demand Britain to close the BBC.”

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged on Tuesday that he and President Donald Trump disagree over the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and said the two men discuss how to use the international agreement to advance administration policies.

Hundreds of people have fled a town in eastern Saudi Arabia where government forces are fighting Shi'ite Muslim gunmen, activists and Saudi media reported on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia accused Iran of persistently stalling the resumption of investigations into the 2016 attacks on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad.

A group of human rights organizations said that the Saudi authorities have continued their harsh security measures against the town of Al-Awamiyah in the Eastern Province.

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday asked a U.S. judge to dismiss 25 lawsuits claiming that it helped plan the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and should pay damages to victims.

The Saudi-backed Yemeni government will not allow its Houthi foes to keep the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, the information minister said, underlining its intention to remove the vital aid delivery point from the control of the Iran-aligned group.

Militant group Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on the Iraqi embassy in Kabul on Monday that began with a suicide bomber blowing himself up at the main gate, allowing gunmen to enter the building and battle security forces.