The U.N. special envoy for Syria announced Tuesday that invitations have been issued for a sixth meeting of the committee charged with producing a new constitution for war-torn Syria in October.

After the failure of the five previous meetings of Syrian government, opposition and civil society representatives, Geir Pedersen told the U.N. Security Council: "We should all now expect the constitutional committee to begin to work seriously on a process of drafting — not just preparing — a constitutional reform."

President Joe Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan is heading to Cairo on Wednesday for talks with Egyptian government officials about rising tensions between Israel and Hamas.

The Biden administration is leaning heavily on Egypt, which has long played a role as mediator between Israel and Hamas, for help in maintaining stability in the region even as it presses Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to stop his crackdown on dissent.

Two days of fierce clashes between Yemeni government forces and the country's Houthi rebels over a crucial central city have killed more than 130 fighters, mostly rebels, officials said Tuesday.

The escalation of fighting over the energy-rich city of Marib comes as President Joe Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan travelled to Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as Washington presses for a cease-fire in the yearslong Yemen's war.

Arab citizens of Israel are seeking to raise awareness about the spiraling rate of violent crime in their communities under the hashtag "Arab lives matter," but unlike a similar campaign in the United States, they are calling for more policing, not less.

The Arab minority, which makes up around 20% of Israel's population, has been convulsed by violent crime in recent years, with a rate in killings that far exceeds its share of the population and is driven by criminal gangs and family disputes.

The top diplomat of Yemen's internationally recognized government said Monday his conflict-torn country needs millions more coronavirus vaccines to ensure some of the world's poorest are not left behind.

In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak said the roughly 1 million doses Yemen was given are not enough to vaccinate even the most vulnerable portions of its population.

Syria's top diplomat has said that his country's doors are open for the safe return of refugees, accusing Western countries of taking advantage of the suffering of Syrians while pretending to care for their well-being.

Speaking in New York to the U.N. General Assembly, Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad also called for the withdrawal of U.S. and Turkish troops from his war-ravaged nation, pledging to drive them out Syria sooner or later.

Israel's new prime minister appealed to the international community Monday to stand together against Iran, accusing Tehran of marching toward the development of a nuclear weapon and threatening to act alone if the world does not take action.

In his maiden speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Naftali Bennett made no mention of Israel's decadeslong conflict with the Palestinians and instead sought to portray Iran as a menace to global security.

Two detained former prime ministers under Algeria's longtime ex-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika were handed additional prison sentences on Monday for corruption, local media reported.

Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sellal were sentenced to six and five years respectively for money laundering, wasting public money, abuse of office and "awarding contracts in violation of public procurement regulations", according to the newspapers Ennahar, Echorouk and El Hayat.

Sixty-seven Yemeni rebels and pro-government troops have been killed as fighting intensifies for the key city of Marib, military and medical sources said Monday.

"Fifty-eight Huthi insurgents and nine loyalists were killed in fighting and air strikes in the provinces of Marib and Shabwa in the past 24 hours," military sources told AFP, in figures that were confirmed by medical sources. 

President Joe Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan is traveling to Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the U.S. tries to press the kingdom to move toward a cease-fire in its years long war with Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Sullivan will be the highest-ranking Biden administration official to visit Saudi Arabia. Besides seeing the crown prince, often referred to by his initials, MBS, Sullivan is expected to meet with deputy defense minster Khalid bin Salman, a brother to the crown prince, according to two senior administration officials. The officials were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.