A 66-year-old Qatari man has died after contracting the Mers virus, in the first fatal case in the Gulf state for 10 months, health officials announced on Thursday.
The $23bn Riyadh Metro will be completed on schedule in 2019 and its budget is ring-fenced, a senior official said, quashing speculation the project could be scaled back or delayed following a slump in Saudi Arabia's oil revenues.
Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it exchanged prisoners with its foes in Yemen's Houthi movement and that a calm was holding along their border, in signs of unprecedented progress to end their 11-month war.
Iran warned that its Gulf Arab rivals were jeopardising Lebanon's stability by blacklisting the leading force behind its government, Hezbollah, as a terror group.
Gulf countries declared Lebanon's Hezbollah a "terrorist" group, in the latest regional move against the Shia organisation fighting in support of Syria's regime.
Defence ministers from the US-led coalition against Islamic State discussed the possibility of a Syrian ground incursion two weeks ago in Brussels, but have not made a decision, an aide to Saudi Arabia's defence minister told Reuters on Monday.
Oil prices rose more than 2 percent on Monday after China moved to boost its slowing economy and Saudi Arabia pledged to work with other crude producers to limit market volatility, developments that fed hopes the oil selloff would end.
A Bahraini court sentenced four people to five years in prison for plotting to receive explosives and weapons training to carry out attacks in the Gulf Arab kingdom, the public prosecutor said.
Oil fell below $33 a barrel on Wednesday after Saudi Arabia ruled out production cuts and an industry report said that US crude stockpiles had hit record levels, underlining the supply glut.
Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali al-Naimi said Tuesday he hoped additional producers would join a potential deal to freeze output next month, saying it could help address a global glut.
The Nigerian and Saudi leaders on Tuesday supported efforts to stabilise the oil market but Africa's top producer did not commit to a production freeze.
Saudi Arabia Tuesday urged its citizens in Lebanon to leave, days after Riyadh halted a $3-billion programme funding military supplies to Beirut in response to "hostile" positions linked to Hezbollah.
