Saudi Arabia is to host a meeting of the Syrian opposition later this month as the United Nations prepares to convene new peace talks with the government buoyed by victories over the Islamic State group.

An Algerian freelance journalist and fixer has been indicted on accusations of intelligence contacts with a foreign power, press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Monday.

The Saudi-led coalition will take steps in the coming 24 hours to ease the blockade on Yemen -- but will not reopen a key rebel-held port to aid shipments unless tighter inspections are put in place, Saudi Arabia's U.N. ambassador said Monday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed Monday on the need to boost efforts to achieve a lasting political settlement in Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he has made it clear to the U.S. and Russia that Israel will continue with its operations in Syria.

Netanyahu said he told Washington and Moscow that Israel will act according to its "security needs."

In the unforgiving deserts of Iraq, there is just one way to deal with defeated members of the Islamic State group who try to come home -- tribal justice.

Air strikes on a market killed at least 53 people, including children, in a town in northern Syria on Monday despite a "de-escalation zone" in place there, a monitor said.

Saudi oil giant Aramco on Monday said it had resumed operations at its Bahrain pipeline, days after it was shut down over a fire which Manama called a "terrorist" act. 

Nizar Abdullah spent the night sifting through the ruins of the two-story house next door in the mountainous town of Darbandikhan in Iraqi Kurdistan after a killer quake hit the region.

Saudi Arabia announced Monday that the Saudi-led coalition fighting Shiite rebels in Yemen will begin reopening airports and seaports in the Arab world's poorest country, days after closing them over a rebel ballistic missile attack on Riyadh.

The announcement from the Saudi mission at the United Nations came after the coalition fighting Yemen's rebels, known as Houthis, faced widespread international criticism over the closure, with the U.N. and over 20 aid groups saying it could bring millions of people closer to "starvation and death."