Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has shaken up the conservative kingdom with head-spinning reforms while quashing any threats to his status since becoming de facto ruler of the world's biggest oil producer five years ago.

The hard-charging heir drew international revulsion after Saudi agents killed and dismembered journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, but US President Joe Biden's visit to the kingdom this week looks set to restore his position on the international stage, forcing world leaders to deal with him whether they want to or not.

The US and Israel signed a new security pact Thursday reinforcing their common front against Iran, as President Joe Biden vowed to use "all" American power to stop Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The declaration was inked by Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Biden, who was making his first trip to the Middle East as president.

It commits the United States to "never to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon", stating that it "is prepared to use all elements of its national power to ensure that outcome".

A Swedish court on Thursday handed a life sentence to former Iranian prison official Hamid Noury for crimes committed during a 1988 purge of dissidents, in the first trial related to the mass executions.

Noury, 61, was convicted of a "serious crime against international law" and "murder", the Stockholm district court said in a statement.

According to the court, Noury was an assistant prosecutor in a prison near Tehran at the time of the events.

The niece of slain Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh expressed "outrage" Wednesday as US President Joe Biden arrived in Israel, condemning Washington for inaction over her killing.

Lina Abu Akleh watched on television from her home in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as Air Force One touched down near Tel Aviv, just over two months after her aunt, a veteran Al Jazeera correspondent, was shot in the head while covering an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank.

The White House said Wednesday that President Joe Biden would limit physical contact during his Middle East tour, citing coronavirus concerns, as he landed in Israel ahead of a delicate trip to Saudi Arabia.

Biden, 79, began his first regional visit as president by landing at Ben Gurion airport near the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv and he will fly to the Saudi city of Jeddah later this week.

Victims of Lebanon's deadly 2020 port blast have filed a quarter-billion-dollar lawsuit against a US firm for its suspected links to the tragedy, a Swiss foundation assisting the plaintiffs said Wednesday.

Accountability Now said in a statement that the claim was filed this week in Texas against US-Norwegian geophysical services group TGS.

The company owns British firm Spectrum Geo, which a decade ago chartered the Rhosus ship, which was carrying the ammonium nitrate that was subsequently unloaded at Beirut port and exploded on August 4, 2020.

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday kicked off a Middle East tour in Israel where both sides vowed to deepen the Jewish state's integration in the region as they face their common foe Iran.

Biden -- whose first regional visit since taking office will also bring him to Saudi Arabia -- pledged strong backing for Israel, which has forged ties with several Arab states in recent years and hopes to do so with Riyadh as well.

Moments after US President Joe Biden touched down in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, the Israeli military showed him new hardware it says is essential to confronting Iran: anti-drone lasers.

While Israel has long been known for its efforts to thwart Tehran's nuclear ambitions, Israeli officials have increasingly been sounding the alarm over Iran's fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

A hardy plant grown using salt water is thriving in the UAE's desert farms and helping create "healthy" burgers, showing sustainable agriculture's potential in the toughest conditions.

Salicornia, a succulent, is already being used as a salt replacement in burger patties -- a rare farming success in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, which imports nearly all of its food.

"You have the salty flavour with less sodium, but you also have other benefits," said Tina Siegismund, head of marketing and innovation at UAE-based Global Food Industries, a frozen food manufacturer.

A senior US official said Tuesday that Russia's plan to acquire hundreds of combat drones from Iran shows its urgent need to reinforce due to heavy losses four months after invading Ukraine.

John Kirby, a spokesman for the national security council, said the deal, revealed by the White House on Monday, also shows Iran's willingness to support Moscow's war on Ukraine.

But he said supply the drones would not necessarily affect US ongoing attempts to negotiate a return to the 2015 six-party deal to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.