The Emirati foreign minister said Wednesday that any Saudi-led ground operation against rebels in Yemen would need a green light from the country's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

"We cannot limit our options" in Yemen, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan told reporters, questioned on whether the Saudi-led coalition of which the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a member planned to send in ground troops.

An Emirati woman on trial for the murder of an American and attempting to kill another claims she is "possessed by evil spirits" and is mentally ill, local media reported Tuesday. 

Alaa Bader al-Hashemi is accused of stabbing to death teacher Ibolya Ryan, 47, in an Abu Dhabi shopping mall restroom.

Twenty-eight men and women have been fined or jailed for attending an alcohol-fueled sex party on a yacht in Dubai, reports said on Monday.

The Court of Misdemeanors sentenced two men and three women to one year each in prison for having sex outside of marriage, the Khaleej Times reported.

UAE carriers Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways said Wednesday an investigation is underway after two of their planes apparently flew too close to each other, but that safety was never jeopardized.

The incident took place Sunday in Indian airspace between Emirates flight EK706, traveling from Seychelles to Dubai, and Etihad's EY622 heading to Seychelles.

Leading carriers Emirates and Etihad Airways said Monday that their cockpits will have two crew members in at all times under new procedures introduced in response to the Germanwings disaster.

Investigators believe co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked his captain out of the cockpit of Flight 4U 9525 and deliberately steered the Airbus A320 into a French mountainside last week, killing all 150 people onboard.

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Sweden will soon return to Stockholm, Swedish officials said Saturday, more than two weeks after he was recalled home amid a diplomatic spat over human rights.

"I'm very pleased that we can resume our normal diplomatic ties," Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstroem told reporters.

Saudi-led strikes on Yemeni rebels are set to dominate an Arab summit that will consider forming a joint military force as several countries in the region teeter on the brink of collapse.

For years Arab states had contented themselves with directing proxies in regional struggles.

Education Minister Elias Bou Saab stressed on Friday that there is no official decision in the United Arab Emirates to deport Lebanese expatriates, denying reports about new lists.

“The names of the Lebanese who were extradited are on a list that includes 5,000 expats from different nationalities,” Bou Saab told al-Akhbar newspaper.

The Loyalty to the Resistance bloc urged on Thursday the need to continue with the dialogue between Hizbullah and the Mustaqbal Movement, condemning attempts to derail the talks.

MP Hussein Fadlallah said after the bloc's weekly meeting that the dialogue will continue away from attempts to sabotage by those “adopting political spite.”

The United Arab Emirates recalled its ambassador from Sweden Wednesday, widening a diplomatic row triggered by the Nordic country's criticism of Saudi Arabia.

The protest came a week after Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Stockholm, citing Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstroem's criticism of its human rights and democracy record in the Swedish parliament.