As U.S. troops beef up in eastern Syria to protect oil fields, residents hope their mission will bring stability and prosperity to the remote and resource-rich region —and keep the Syrian government out.

Their hopes reflect the expectations being piled onto the operation, even as President Donald Trump flip-flopped on the scope and duration of troops deployment. He initially ordered all troops out of Syria last month, then decided to keep a force in place to hold the oil infrastructure.

A demonstration held outside the Kuwaiti parliament over alleged rampant corruption was reminiscent of past crises that have marred political life in the oil-rich Gulf state.

Jordan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have regularly violated the U.N. arms embargo imposed on Libya since 2011, according to a confidential report by U.N. experts seen Thursday by AFP.

A U.S.-led naval coalition officially launched operations in Bahrain Thursday to protect shipping in the troubled waters of the Gulf, after a string of attacks that Washington and its allies blamed on Iran.

Four Iraqis were shot and killed on Thursday as they tried to remove barriers blocking their march in central Baghdad, while in the south, protesters forced the closing of the country's main port hours after services had resumed following days of closure, officials said.

Demonstrators have been trying to reach the Green Zone, which houses government offices and foreign embassies.

Six people, including four civilians, were killed in an attack by Yemeni rebels on a military base in the Red Sea coastal town of Mokha, medical sources said on Thursday. 

Eleven pro-Turkish Syrian fighters were killed Thursday by Kurdish forces in violation of ceasefire agreements aimed at creating a "safe zone" in northern Syria, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

The United Nations chief Antonio Guterres denounced as "disturbing" reports that Iraqi security forces have fired live ammunition at anti-government protesters in Baghdad, as mass rallies continued to rock the capital and southern Iraq. 

Turkey has captured a wife of the slain leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.

Erdogan made the announcement while delivering a speech in the capital of Ankara but gave no other details. He did not say when or how the woman was captured or identify her by name.

The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees has resigned amid an internal probe into alleged mismanagement and ethical abuses at the organization, the United Nations said Wednesday.