The United Arab Emirates' "Hope" probe on Tuesday successfully entered Mars' orbit, mission officials said, becoming the first Arab country to reach the Red Planet.

Arab foreign ministers on Monday reaffirmed their commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, warning against "any unilateral moves" by Israel.

The Islamic State group on Monday ambushed a regime convoy in eastern Syria, killing at least 26 fighters, a Britain-based war monitor said.

Key Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas opened talks Monday in Cairo aimed at clearing the way for the first elections in the West Bank and Gaza since 2006, Egypt's state television said.

Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels have resumed an offensive to seize the government's last northern stronghold of Marib, a government source said Monday, with dozens of casualties on both sides. 

Three young Saudis from the minority Shiite community had their death sentences commuted to 10 years in prison Sunday, officials said, as the kingdom seeks to improve its human rights record.

Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon and Abdullah al-Zaher were arrested as minors in 2012 on terrorism-related charges after they took part in anti-government protests during the Arab Spring uprisings.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied corruption charges against him in a brief court appearance Monday, as his graft trial intensifies weeks before a fourth national election inside two years. 

Hundreds of thousands of students in Jordan went back to classrooms on Sunday after almost a year of school closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Israeli barbershops and some other businesses reopened Sunday as Israel began easing its third coronavirus lockdown Sunday amid an aggressive vaccination campaign.

Early Friday, the government announced it was lifting some restrictions imposed since December, when the country saw a rise in Covid-19 infections.

The key Palestinian factions -- Fatah, which controls the West Bank, and Gaza's Hamas Islamists -- plan to meet in Cairo this week to tackle issues that could threaten long-awaited Palestinian elections.

Technical, legal and security issues must be resolved first, observers say, to ensure the first Palestinian votes in 15 years are not derailed by acrimony between the former enemies.