Israel said the United States on Thursday approved the "landmark" sale of the Arrow 3 hypersonic missile defence system to Germany, in the country's biggest military deal worth $3.5 billion.

The Arrow 3 system -- an interceptor designed to shoot down ballistic missiles above the Earth's atmosphere -- is jointly developed and produced by the Israel and the United States.

Israel's defence ministry said in a statement the US State Department had notified it of the US government's approval for Germany to procure the Arrow 3 system.

Climate change has impacted the Middle East and North Africa where summer is already very hot. Many in Iraq, Syria, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia still labour in the heat.

- A tool of the trade in Syria -

Heat is a tool of the trade for blacksmith Murad Haddad in the city of Idlib in northwest Syria.

"We make everything by hand here. We get up early to try to avoid the extra heat we're exposed to as well as the flames," the 30-year-old told AFP.

Already battling extreme heat, Bahrain is scrambling to ward off another environmental threat: rising seas that could swallow parts of its coast, the island nation's oil and environment minister told AFP.

By next year, the tiny Gulf state will begin building its coastal defences against sea levels that have begun advancing, by widening beaches, constructing taller sea walls and elevating land.

"Bahrain is vulnerable," Mohamed bin Mubarak bin Daina, Bahrain's oil and environment minister and special envoy for climate affairs, said in an interview.

After riding a fossil-fuel boom for decades, Gulf Arab states are eyeing "green" hydrogen as they try to transition their economies and ease the climate crisis at a stroke.

Oil producers Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman are investing heavily in the climate-friendly fuel in a search for alternative revenues to crude and gas.

Green hydrogen, which is the hydrogen created when renewable energy electrolyses water, appears to solve many problems: it is low-polluting and has widespread potential uses, which could make it lucrative and planet-saving at the same time.

Intel Corporation has terminated a $5.4 billion deal to buy Tower Semiconductor in Israel after failing to get needed regulatory approval, the US chip maker announced Wednesday.

Regulators in China were apparently the obstacle, having shown no sign of approving the merger which had been agreed on early last year, according to a Bloomberg report.

Intel will pay Tower a $353 million termination fee as per terms of the agreement, the companies said in a release.

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday executed a US national convicted of torturing and killing his father, state media reported, bringing to at least 19 the number of foreigners put to death this year.

The death sentence for Bishoy Sharif Naji Naseef was carried out in the Riyadh region, the official Saudi Press Agency said.

The Gulf kingdom is frequently criticised for its prolific use of capital punishment, which human rights groups say undermines its bid to soften its image through a sweeping "Vision 2030" social and economic reform agenda.

French firm TotalEnergies said Wednesday that a drilling rig had reach Lebanese waters ahead of exploration for offshore gas reserves, months after a landmark accord demarcating the Lebanon-Israel maritime border.

"TotalEnergies, the operator of Block 9, announces the arrival of the drilling rig, Transocean Barents, on the block, at around 120 kilometres (75 miles) off the coast of Beirut," a statement said, adding that a transport helicopter had also reached Beirut airport.

As Iranian seizures threaten oil tankers plying the Gulf, the United States is raising its military presence -- a move long demanded by Gulf Arab states who accused Washington of retreating from the region.

Three thousand additional US personnel on troop-landing warships have already passed through the Red Sea, and US-led maritime forces are warning ships against approaching Iranian waters.

Tripoli's worst armed clashes in a year have killed 55 people and wounded 146, Libyan media reported Wednesday, after a truce took hold in the capital and air traffic resumed.

Fighting raged from Monday night into Tuesday between the influential 444 Brigade and the Al-Radaa, or Special Deterrence Force, two of the myriad of militias that have vied for power since the 2011 overthrow of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

In August last year, 32 people were killed and 159 wounded in Tripoli during battles between divided Libya's two rival administrations.

For desperate Syrians, a WhatsApp message saying "I want to go to Europe" can be all they need to start a treacherous journey to Libya and then across the Mediterranean.

Twelve years after conflict broke out when President Bashar al-Assad repressed peaceful pro-democracy protests, Syrians are still trying to escape a war that has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and pulled in foreign powers and global jihadists.