Saudi authorities have extended the detention of two women's rights activists, one of whom tried to drive into the kingdom in defiance of a ban, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world which does not allow women to drive.

Saudi Arabia beheaded on Tuesday a convicted drug trafficker, the 77th state execution in the oil-rich kingdom this year despite international concerns.

Nasser bin Amiq Ali al-Inzi was convicted of trying to smuggle "a large amount" of amphetamines into the country, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

King Abdullah named a new health minister Monday to lead the fight against the MERS virus that has cost more than 350 lives in Saudi Arabia, after his predecessor was sacked.

Mohammed bin Ali bin Hayazaa al-Hayazaa replaces Abdullah al-Rabiah who was dismissed in April as concerns grew over the kingdom's handling of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

Lebanon needs more international help to fight jihadist forces that have launched a series of attacks against the army and kidnapped troops and policemen, Prime Minister Tammam Salam said in an interview with Agence France-Presse.

Salam, speaking ahead of a visit to France this week, welcomed French arms deliveries due "in the coming weeks," but said the Lebanese army needed more.

Saudi Arabia said Sunday it has arrested 135 suspects for "terrorism" offenses, after the kingdom's participation in air strikes against Islamic State group extremists raised concerns about possible retaliation.

The suspects include 26 foreign nationals, mostly from Syria, interior ministry spokesman General Mansour al-Turki said, cited by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Guards on Saudi Arabia's southern border with Yemen have killed two Ethiopians trying to smuggle drugs and alcohol into the kingdom, the official SPA news agency reported.

The agency said late Saturday that another three smugglers were wounded and four police were slightly hurt in a firefight.

Oil struck fresh five-year low points this week on the back of the strong dollar, oversupply fears and major producer Saudi Arabia slashing its export prices.

The market had already dived last week after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) left its output ceiling unchanged, despite a global supply glut.

Denmark urged wealthy Gulf states Friday to honor their promises on funding humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees as a crucial U.N. food aid program was cut after running out of money.

Denmark, already a big donor, said it could help the U.N. program, which was supporting 1.7 million Syrian refugees, but it blasted Gulf states for not paying up.

Every morning, Pakistani grandfather Haji Abdul Haq wakes up wondering whether his son has been beheaded. Not by the Taliban, al-Qaida or the Islamic State group, but by the Saudi Arabian government.

Haq's son is on death row in the ultraconservative kingdom, waiting for his name to be added to the growing roll of Pakistanis executed this year by the Saudis for heroin smuggling.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri expressed hope on Thursday that dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal Movement would include all the Lebanese factions, setting the presidential elections and the country's security and stability as a priority.

“The kingdom views dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal as a positive step that should include all the Lebanese,” Asiri said in comments published in the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper.