Denmark's spy agencies went on trial on Thursday in a unique lawsuit brought by a Dane who claims he was an undercover informant for Denmark in Syria but wound up in prison over alleged IS group ties.

In a case that has proven embarrassing for the intelligence services and politicians, Samsam, a Danish national of Syrian origin, claims he was working for Danish intelligence in Syria in 2013 and 2014, spying on foreign jihadist fighters.

A high-ranking civil servant buried Wednesday in Israel is the latest victim of a crime wave that has killed almost 160 members of Israel's Arab minority this year.

Abdelrahman Kashua, who held the post of director-general in Tira city, just north of Tel Aviv, was gunned down at a gas station on Monday, police said.

Mourners carrying black flags gathered outside a police station in protest as part of the funeral procession.

Kashua is among 156 Arab-Israelis killed so far this year, according to the Abraham Initiatives which promotes coexistence between Arabs and Jews.

Fierce storms closed schools Wednesday in Saudi Arabia's Mecca region, home to Islam's holiest site, the Grand Mosque, which was lashed by heavy rains and wind overnight, witnesses said.

As pilgrims tried to circumambulate the Kaaba, the giant black cube towards which all Muslims pray, a bolt of lightning struck the iconic Fairmont Makkah Clock Royal Tower hotel, illuminating the night sky late Tuesday.

The storm brought gale force winds exceeding 80 kilometres (50 miles) per hour, Hussein al-Qahtani, spokesman for the National Centre for Meteorology, told AFP.

Straddling the frontier between Lebanon and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, the picturesque village of Ghajar has become a lightning rod for tensions between the hostile forces on either side.

The latest tit-for-tat exchange saw Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and the chief of Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, vow to send the other's country "back to the Stone Age" if the other escalates violence.

On the sleepy streets of Ghajar, home to manicured flower beds and ice cream trucks, an invisible boundary is intended to keep the two sides apart.

The daughter of a German citizen of Iranian descent who was sentenced to death by Tehran pleaded Tuesday for the United States and Germany to act urgently to save him.

Jamshid Sharmahd's daughter met in Washington with US officials after holding a sit-in outside of the State Department, on the heels of a deal by President Joe Biden's administration to free five American citizens who were imprisoned in Iran.

Former OPEC president Diezani Alison-Madueke has been charged with bribery offences relating to her time as Nigeria's oil minister, the UK National Crime Agency said on Tuesday.

Alison-Madueke has been on bail since first being arrested in London in October 2015. She will appear in court in the British capital on October 2, the NCA said.

Soon after her arrest, her family's lawyer told AFP she would strongly contest corruption allegations that have dogged her during and after her time in former president Goodluck Jonathan's government.

Ethiopia said Tuesday it would launch a joint investigation with Saudi Arabia into a Human Rights Watch report accusing the kingdom's border guards of killing hundreds of Ethiopian migrants.

The report sparked global outrage after its publication on Monday, although a Saudi government source dismissed the allegations as "unfounded."

"The Government of Ethiopia will promptly investigate the incident in tandem with the Saudi Authorities," the foreign ministry said on X, formerly Twitter.

Iran unveiled on Tuesday its latest domestically built drone that can fly at a higher altitude and for a longer duration with enhanced weapons capabilities, state media reported.

The "Mohajer-10" drone was introduced at a ceremony in Tehran attended by President Ebrahim Raisi, celebrating the achievements of Iran's defence industry.

The new drone is an upgraded version of the "Mohajer-6", which US officials have accused Iran of selling to Russia for use in the Ukraine war -- an accusation Tehran denies.

Abdullah al-Qahtani trades jabs with a sparring partner at a gym in the Saudi capital Riyadh, surrounded by a dozen fighters running through their own drills on the crowded mat.

The humble setting is a far cry from where he's headed: the bright lights of Madison Square Garden in New York City, where this week he and another Saudi combatant will try to put the kingdom's mixed martial arts (MMA) scene on the map.

A major Cypriot police operation Tuesday found dozens of migrants living in a condemned apartment complex near the resort city of Paphos, after protests by residents and allegations of electricity theft.

There has long been friction between the asylum-seekers and residents of the town of Chlorakas, who have held protests demanding that the flats be cleared.

The issue resurfaced after the state electricity utility cut power to the complex and placed the local substation under guard.