Saudi Arabia gave a "positive" response Friday to a truce offer from Huthi rebels in Yemen and called for its implementation.

From the Sumerians 5,000 years ago to 20th century communist currents, rebellion isn't new to Iraq's Dhi Qar -- and in this week's nationwide protests, the southern province has seen the bloodiest rallies.

Iraqi security forces Friday opened fired on dozens of protesters gathering in Baghdad for a fourth day of demonstrations against corruption, unemployment and poor public services, an AFP correspondent reported.

Just weeks after Tunisians rejected ruling political parties in the first round of presidential polls, voters are set to return to the ballot box on Sunday to elect a new parliament.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced Thursday the arrest of three "terrorists" accused of plotting an attack against senior commander Qassem Soleimani on orders of Israeli and Arab secret services.

The suspects "were sent abroad" and "large sums of money were spent to train them and prepare them" to carry out an attack against Soleimani, the Guards' official website Sepahnews said.

Egyptian authorities have freed a Sudanese student detained during a crackdown on rare rallies against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Khartoum's embassy in Cairo said.

The mainly young protesters who have flooded Iraqi streets this week say their movement is spontaneous with no space for the clerics and politicians they accuse of hijacking previous protests for jobs and better services.

Israel's parliament will be sworn in Thursday without a new government formed as a deadlocked general election leaves Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrambling to find a path to extend his long tenure in power.

At least 173 civilians, including 41 children, have been killed in Syria by landmines and explosive remnants of war since the start of the year, a monitor said Thursday.

The death toll from mass rallies in Iraq against corruption and unemployment rose to 19 on Thursday, as the leaderless protest movement spread to virtually all of the south.