The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously approved a resolution that authorizes the deployment of observers to war-torn Yemen to oversee a fragile truce in the strategic Red Sea port of Hodeida.

Kurds leading the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria asked France Friday for military and diplomatic support following President Donald Trump's decision to pull US troops out of the country, a spokeswoman said.
The leaders of the political wing of the Kurdish-led force also said they feared they could "lose control" over foreign jihadists being held in Syrian Kurdish jails if IS used the US pullout to regroup, or if Turkey pushed ahead with its threatened offensive against the Kurds' self-declared autonomous region, Ilham Ahmad said.

The international coalition fighting Islamic State (IS) in Syria "has a job to finish" despite US President Donald Trump's "very serious" decision to withdraw American troops from Syria, the French defence minister said Friday.

Saudi Arabia on Thursday said it was creating government bodies to boost oversight of its intelligence operations, in the wake of international outrage over critic Jamal Khashoggi's murder.

The UN Security Council is expected to vote on Friday on sending observers to war-torn Yemen and endorsing the results of recent peace talks in Sweden, according to diplomats.

Kuwaiti authorities have arrested a man who used a drone to smuggle in drugs from a neighboring country, the anti-narcotics department said Thursday.
It said the department had seized four kilograms (nine pounds) of amphetamine and one kilogram of hashish.

Germany warned Thursday that US President Donald Trump's decision to pull troops out of Syria could endanger a battle against Islamic State militants and jeopardise achievements on the front.

Moroccan investigators said Thursday they have arrested three fugitive suspects in the grisly murder of two Scandinavian hikers as they follow a link to Islamic extremism.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on Thursday vowed to work closer to end the fighting in Syria.

President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw troops from Syria has rattled Washington's Kurdish allies, who are its most reliable partner in Syria and among the most effective ground forces battling the Islamic State group.
Kurds in northern Syria said commanders and fighters met into the night, discussing their response to Wednesday's surprise announcement.
