Yemen's government will permit citizens living in areas controlled by Huthi rebels to travel on Huthi-issued passports, an official told AFP, removing a barrier to long-awaited commercial flights out of the capital Sanaa.
The flights are one component of a renewable two-month truce that went into effect in early April, but they have been delayed as warring factions squabbled over which documents passengers should use.
Lebanon's Sunni Muslim community is gearing up for Sunday's parliamentary polls without strong leadership for the first time in decades after former premier Saad Hariri stepped down from political life.
In a country where government posts and parliamentary seats are distributed along sectarian lines, Lebanon's Sunni community has long served as a major political force.
Months ahead of the May 15 vote, Hariri announced his retreat from political life, leaving his constituents without a preeminent Sunni figure while the country grapples with an unprecedented financial crisis.
Amnesty International on Thursday criticised former world number one golfer Greg Norman over "wrong and seriously misguided" remarks about Saudi Arabia's human rights record and the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The Australian, who is chief executive of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series, was grilled on the issue at a launch event for the lucrative tournament near London on Wednesday.
The emir of Qatar on Thursday accused Israel over the death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank.
Abu Akleh was "killed by the Israeli occupation forces", Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said at a joint news conference in Tehran with Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi.
"We must hold the perpetrators of this heinous crime accountable," the Qatari leader added.
Abu Akleh, a 51-year-old Palestinian-American, was shot dead on Wednesday as she covered the Israeli military operation in the Jenin refugee camp.
Veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh will be buried alongside her parents in a cemetery near Jerusalem's Old City on Friday, two days after she was shot dead in an Israeli army raid.
The Palestinian American's body has been transferred from the occupied West Bank, and her funeral will be held at a Jerusalem church.
Israel and Palestine have traded blame over the killing of Abu Akleh, 51, a journalist with the Qatar-based network's Arabic service, during clashes in the Jenin refugee camp.
Qatar's emir and the European Union on Thursday said they are working to push forward stalled negotiations aimed at reviving a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani met Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran as an EU envoy held a second day of meetings with Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri in the Iranian capital.
Iraq has agreed to pay $1.6 billion in debt to Iran by June 1 to secure a steady gas supply for power generation through the summer, its electricity minister said.
Chronic underinvestment through decades of war and sanctions has left Iraq dependent on imports from its eastern neighbour for a third of its gas needs.
But US sanctions on Iranian oil and gas have complicated Iraq's payments for the imports, leaving it in heavy arrears and prompting Iran to respond by periodically switching off the taps.
Thousands of Palestinians on Thursday honoured Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh at a memorial service in the occupied West Bank, a day after she was shot dead during an Israeli army raid.
Israel and the Palestinians have traded blame over the killing of Palestinian-American Abu Akleh, 51, a veteran of the Qatar-based network's Arabic service, during clashes in the Jenin refugee camp.
Global tourism is roaring back to life despite Covid travel headaches and the effects of the war in Ukraine, but it has yet to return to its pre-pandemic health.
International tourist arrivals worldwide have more than doubled, up 130 percent in January 2022 on the same period last year, according to the latest UN World Tourism Organization figures.
Travellers are regaining confidence, and Europe and the Americas are leading the resurgence.
The Lebanese parliament voted in on Sunday will have to tackle overdue reforms required for international assistance the cash-strapped country desperately needs.
After Lebanon struck a conditional deal with the International Monetary Fund for a $3 billion aid package, AFP looks at the challenges that await incoming lawmakers in a country where there is little consensus on a roadmap for financial recovery.
- How bad is the crisis? -
Since 2019, Lebanon has suffered an unprecedented economic decline caused by decades of mismanagement and corruption.
