Iraqis are set to head to the polls on May 12 for parliamentary elections.

An incumbent prime minister, his ousted predecessor and a paramilitary chief instrumental in defeating the Islamic State group are the three favorites vying for Iraq's premiership.

A family of three was killed late Saturday in a wave of regime shelling on a southern district of Syria's capital held by the Islamic State group, a monitor said.

A Jordanian MP, his wife and three of his children were among eight people killed late Saturday when their car collided with a winch truck, a security source said.

Israel's defense minister on Sunday dismissed claims the country's spy agency was behind the assassination of a Palestinian scientist in Malaysia, suggesting instead that his killing was a "settling of accounts."

Saudi Arabia was finalising regulation for the use of recreational drones, state media said Sunday, after a toy aircraft sparked security alarm as it hovered close to royal palaces in Riyadh.

The family of a Palestinian professor and Hamas member accused Israel's Mossad spy agency on Saturday of killing him on the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

Rebels were expected to leave a new area outside the Syrian capital Saturday, state media said, after a new deal was reached between opposition fighters and the Russia-backed regime.

Syrian state media says Islamic State group militants have agreed to give up their last pocket in Damascus.

The SANA news agency says militants will be given the option to stay and reconcile with the government or leave on buses to IS-held territory in the eastern Syrian desert.

Saudi air defences intercepted a "ballistic missile" fired by Yemeni rebels at the kingdom's southern coastal city of Jizan, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels said.