Arab leaders welcomed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad back into the fold Friday at a summit in Saudi Arabia that is also expected to confront conflicts across the Middle East and beyond.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also travelled to the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah for a meeting of the 22-member Arab League, highlighting host Saudi Arabia's desire to wield global diplomatic clout.

Saudi Arabia hosted an Arab League summit on Friday in which Syrian President Bashar Assad was welcomed back after a 12-year suspension and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to rally support against Russia.

Russian airstrikes have left a swath of destruction across both countries, but in Syria they came at Assad's invitation and helped him cling to power through years of grinding civil war. Other Arab states have deepened ties with Moscow while remaining largely neutral on the Ukraine war.

Thousands of Jewish nationalists, some of them chanting "Death to Arabs" and other racist slogans, have paraded through the main Palestinian thoroughfare of Jerusalem's Old City, in an annual display that caused new friction between Jews and Palestinians in the tense city.

The marchers, who were overwhelmingly male Orthodox teens and young men, were celebrating "Jerusalem Day," which marks Israel's capture of the Old City 56 years ago. The Palestinians see the event as a provocation. Two years ago, the parade helped fuel an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

Tunisian President Kais Saied has hosted Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders following a deadly mass shooting outside a local synagogue, telling them Tunisia was a country of "tolerance and coexistence".

Tributes to Syrian culture are everywhere at Riyadh's Damascu Cafe –- from the traditional bean stew on the menu to folk songs that pour from the speakers, name-checking the war-torn country's cities and towns.

There's even a staffer who was hired for his resemblance to beloved Syrian comedian Duraid Lahham, and who spends long shifts posing for selfies with homesick customers

The U.N. envoy for Yemen has expressed "cautious optimism" that the country's warring parties will return to U.N.-led negotiations to end their deadly eight-year conflict.

Hans Grundberg told the U.N. Security Council he is confident last month's prisoner releases agreed to by the government and rival Houthi rebels will "build further confidence between the parties" and support an environment conducive for dialogue.

Syrian President Bashar Assad headed to Saudi Arabia on Thursday to attend a regional summit, his first visit to the oil-rich kingdom since Syria's conflict began in 2011, the president's office said.

Assad's attendance at the Arab League summit, which starts Friday, is expected to seal Syria's return to the Arab fold following a 12-year suspension and open a new chapter of relations after more than a decade of tensions.

Israel deployed over 2,000 police on Thursday for a march by flag-waving Jewish nationalists through the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem's Old City, a contentious event that comes as tensions are already running high.

Authorities say the beefed up security is a determined effort to ensure the march passes without violence.

The bodies of nine migrants from sub-Saharan African countries have been found in western Tunisia, near the border with Algeria, in recent days, a judicial official told AFP on Wednesday.

A humanitarian aid worker who used an anonymous Twitter account to mock Saudi Arabia about its economy has filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against the social media platform, the kingdom and a number of individuals alleging an attempt to silence critics overseas.

Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, was working for the Red Crescent in Riyadh in 2018 when plain-clothed security forces entered the office of the Red Crescent offices in Riyadh. He was taken away without any explanation.