A Yemeni rebel attack on a Saudi oil plant set off a huge fire near Jeddah's Formula One circuit during televised practice sessions on Friday, part of a wave of assaults on Aramco facilities.

Russia's war on Ukraine has drawn unprecedented sanctions that have seen it banned from most international sports in a Western-led break with the long-standing convention against politics mixing with sport.

For many Arabs, who have seen their own sportsmen and women punished for refusing to compete with Israelis in protest at successive wars, the exception made for a European conflict smacks of double standards.

Iran, under sweeping economic sanctions, was hawking weapons on Wednesday at a Qatari defense exhibit, a surprising sight at the major conference also showcasing American companies and fighter jets.

Tucked away in the far left corner of the carpeted convention center, commanders from Iran's defense ministry marketed their missiles and air defense weapons systems. The defense ministry manufactures arms for both Iran's military and its powerful paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard, a group that plays a singular role in the creation and execution of Iran's national security and foreign policy.

The foreign ministers of Iran and Syria, two allies of Russia, discussed the war in Ukraine and other developments during a meeting in Damascus on Wednesday. Syria's top diplomat said Moscow is defending its people.

Faisal Mekdad spoke to reporters in Damascus after his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, held talks with President Bashar Assad, Mekdad and top security official Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk.

At least four Israelis were killed Tuesday in a stabbing attack outside a shopping center and a gas station in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, Al-Jazeera TV reported.

The TV network added that the attacker was also killed in the incident.

Three Israelis detained by Russian troops in Ukraine have been freed, the head of the Ukrainian journalists union said Tuesday.

Kurdish security forces in northeastern Syria said Tuesday they had seized more than two million captagon pills smuggled in from surrounding rebel-held areas, their biggest such bust to date.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hosted talks Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and the UAE's de facto ruler, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, his office said.

The meeting, which took place in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, included discussions on "energy, market stability, and food security," Egyptian presidency spokesman Bassam Radi said.

With the world focused on Ukraine, U.N. mediators are trying to avoid a political crisis degenerating into new violence in Libya, where Russia has long been a major player.  

The war-battered North African country found itself with two governments earlier this month after the eastern-based House of Representatives appointed ex-interior minister Fathi Bashagha in a challenge to the Tripoli-based premier, Abdulhamid Dbeibah.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett held talks Monday in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi after arriving in the country on a previously unannounced visit, Israeli and Arab media reports said.

Israeli media reports meanwhile said that Bennett will also hold a tripartite summit with al-Sisi and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.