A young Saudi man was released from prison after spending nearly a decade behind bars in a case that drew international scrutiny because until recently he'd been facing a possible death sentence for protest-related crimes committed as a minor.

Ali al-Nimr's case also drew attention because his uncle was influential Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, who was executed in January 2016 in a mass execution of 47 people in the kingdom. He was an outspoken government critic and a key leader of Shiite protests in eastern Saudi Arabia in 2011 demanding greater rights in the majority Sunni nation and fair treatment.

The U.N. special envoy for Syria has said the Syrian government's refusal to negotiate on revisions to the country's constitution is a key reason for the failure of talks last week that left the road map to peace in the conflict-torn country in question..

Geir Pedersen expressed his disappointment to the U.N. Security Council, saying the parties also failed to agree to meet again before the end of the year. But he said he will continue to engage with all "to address the challenges that have arisen," saying it is urgent to produce results.

A Moscow-bound EgyptAir flight returned to the Egyptian capital shortly after takeoff Wednesday due to a threatening message found onboard, authorities said.

A statement by Egypt's flagship airliner said flight MS728 had returned safely to Cairo International Airport some 22 minutes after takeoff. The flight was heading to the Russian capital, it said.

An Israeli committee convened Wednesday to approve 2,800 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, a day after the Biden administration issued its strongest condemnation yet of Israeli settlement construction.

The Defense Ministry's higher planning council, which authorizes West Bank construction, met to authorize the housing units, with more than half of them getting final approval before building starts. The start of the meeting was confirmed by the Israeli defense body COGAT.

Libya's only operational oil refinery was "severely" damaged after gunmen battled for three hours around the complex, the National Oil Corporation said.

"The Zawiya Oil Complex was severely damaged as a result of skirmishes by armed groups," Libya's state oil company NOC said. 

The United Nations Security Council and the United States have imposed sanctions on a Libyan official over the alleged abuse and torture of migrants in a detention center.

The Security Council and the U.S. said in separate statements late Tuesday that Osama al-Kuni is the de facto head of a detention center in the North African nation's west. Migrants there are said to have been subjected to torture, sexual and gender-based violence and human trafficking.

Pakistan said Wednesday that Saudi Arabia will deposit $3 billion into its central bank to help bolster the cash-strapped fellow Islamic nation's shrinking foreign reserves.

Shaukat Tarin, Pakistan's top finance ministry official, also said on Twitter that Saudi Arabia will additionally supply 1.2 billion worth of oil to Pakistan on credit.

Syria's electricity ministry has signed a $115 million contract with an Iranian company to rehabilitate a power station in a central province of the war-torn country, state media reported.

Under the agreement involving the two allies — who are both under U.S. sanctions — the Iranian company Peymanir will rehabilitate the Mhardeh power station in Hama province.

King Abdullah II of Jordan has visited Poland for talks with President Andrzej Duda on security issues and further defense cooperation.

The two leaders met at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw.

Gunmen from the Islamic State extremist group attacked a village northeast of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 11 civilians and wounding six others, Iraqi security officials said.

The officials said the attack occurred in the predominantly Shiite village of al-Rashad northeast of Baqouba in Diyala province. The circumstances of the attack were not immediately clear, but two officials who spoke to The Associated Press said Islamic State group militants had kidnapped two villagers earlier and then raided the village when their demands for ransom were not met.