The Biden administration has said that Egypt's poor human rights record hasn't improved, but it won't withhold as much military aid as it did last year regardless. Administration officials cited what they said were overriding U.S. national security interests for the decision to limit the extent they would penalize Egypt for the abuses.

The officials cited regional stability and international support for Ukraine's battle against invading Russian forces as among the U.S. national security interests served by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, despite Sisi's retreat on some human rights benchmarks. They briefed reporters on condition of anonymity under rules set by the State Department.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet billionaire businessman Elon Musk during a trip to the United States next week, the Israeli leader's office said.

Netanyahu's office said their meeting, which is scheduled for Monday, will include discussions about artificial intelligence. It comes at a time when Musk is facing accusations of tolerating antisemitic messages on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Libyan authorities blocked civilians from entering the flood-stricken eastern city of Derna on Friday so search teams could look through the mud and wrecked buildings for 10,100 people still missing after the known toll rose to 11,300 dead.

The disaster after two dams collapsed in heavy rains and sent a massive flood gushing into the Mediterranean city early Monday underscored the storm's intensity but also Libya's vulnerability. The oil-rich state since 2014 has been split between rival governments in the east and west backed by various militia forces and international patrons.

Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels said they hoped to overcome "challenges" on Friday as they head into unprecedented talks in Saudi Arabia aimed at ending their devastating eight-year war.

Iraq is stepping up repatriation of its citizens from a camp in northeastern Syria housing tens of thousands of people, mostly wives and children of Islamic State fighters but also supporters of the militant group.

It's a move that Baghdad hopes will reduce cross-border militant threats and eventually lead to shutting down the facility.

At least five Palestinians have been killed and over 20 others wounded in an explosion next to the separation fence along the Israeli frontier with Gaza, Palestinian health officials said.

The cause of the blast was not immediately known.

Egypt's only candidate campaigning so far for a presidential election next year, Ahmed al-Tantawi, has denounced harassment by the security forces against his teams and supporters.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi -- the former army chief elected in 2014, a year after he led the military ouster of elected Islamist president Mohamed Morsi -- is widely expected to run for re-election.

Tunisia has barred entry to a delegation from the European Parliament, after some EU lawmakers criticised a deal Brussels struck with Tunis to stem migration, officials said on Thursday.

Legislators from the parliament's foreign affairs committee were due to head to the North African country on Thursday on a fact-finding mission.

Israel's foreign minister has said that Israel would not cave in to foreign dictates on its treatment of the Palestinians — in comments that came in a meeting with his Norwegian counterpart coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Oslo peace accords.

The remarks by Foreign Minister Eli Cohen underscored the deterioration of Mideast peace efforts since the historic interim peace deal. Substantive negotiations have not taken place in years, and Israel is led by a far-right government opposed to Palestinian statehood.

With attention focused on its contentious judicial overhaul, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has quietly taken unprecedented steps toward cementing Israel's control over the occupied West Bank — perhaps permanently.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a leader of the settlement movement, assumed new powers over the occupied territory in his coalition agreement with Netanyahu. Smotrich moved swiftly to approve thousands of new settlement homes, legalize previously unauthorized wildcat outposts and make it more difficult for Palestinians to build homes and move about.