Spotlight
Belgian leaders are mulling the suspension of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, national broadcaster RTBF said Saturday after it was reported they had been used in Yemen.

Eight members of a "terrorist" cell were killed on Saturday in a police raid in Saudi Arabia's eastern Qatif region, a Shiite minority stronghold, state media reported.

Yemen's government on Sunday accused rebels of a "policy of deception" after they announced a pullout from a string of Red Sea ports in a long-delayed move agreed under a ceasefire deal last year.

Israel reopened Sunday its crossings with the blockaded Gaza Strip after closing them during a deadly escalation earlier this month, an official said, as a fragile truce held.

Around 60 migrants most of them from Bangladesh have died after their boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea after it left Libya for Italy, the Tunisian Red Crescent said Saturday.

UN-linked aid groups have suspended activities in parts of violence-plagued northwest Syria, where stepped up bombardment by the regime and Russia is jeopardising the safety of humanitarian workers.

Yemeni rebels said they were set to begin a unilateral withdrawal from the lifeline port of Hodeida on Saturday in a bid to kickstart implementation of a December truce brokered by the UN.

The battle for Tripoli between rival Libyan forces both championing the fight against "terrorism" has created a security vacuum, allowing the Islamic State group a chance to re-emerge, analysts warn.
Libya expert Emad Badi says the fighting has given IS "the opportunity to reorganise, recruit and strike alliances with other groups (and organise attacks) to show they are still around".

Kazakhstan said Friday it had evacuated 231 of its citizens, most of them children, from Syria after they travelled or were taken there to join the Islamic State group.

A Saudi cargo ship that had been expected to pick up a hugely controversial shipment of French arms from France's Le Havre will not dock there, a port source said Friday.
