An Israeli-Saudi normalisation would dramatically redraw the Middle East by formally bringing together two major US partners in the face of Iran - a foreign-policy flourish for President Joe Biden as he seeks reelection in late 2024. 

Assad arrived aboard an Air China plane amid heavy fog, which Chinese state media said "added to the atmosphere of mystery" in a nod to the fact the Syrian leader has seldom been seen since the start of a civil war that has claimed over half a million lives.

As night fell on Saturday, a heavy security force presence in Iran's mostly Kurdish areas appeared to have deterred large-scale protest rallies but human rights groups reported sporadic confrontations in several areas of the country.

Storm Daniel barreled across the Mediterranean into a country divided and crumbling after more than a decade of conflict.

The death toll from the 6.8 magnitude quake that struck in the High Atlas Mountains late on Friday evening rose to 2,901, while the number of people injured more than doubled to 5,530, state television reported.

The visit, for UNESCO's World Heritage Committee session, coincides with speculation about a potential normalisation of ties between the two countries in future.

Neighbors were still searching for survivors buried on the slopes, where houses of mud brick, stone and rough wood were cracked open and mosque minarets toppled by the quake. The historic old city of Marrakech also suffered extensive damage.

Authorities declared three days of national mourning, but the Red Cross warned that it could take years to repair the damage.

The 6.8-magnitude quake struck late Friday in a mountainous area 72 kilometers southwest of tourist hotspot Marrakesh, the USGS reported, causing more than 1,000 people died according to an estimate from authorities.

"Yes, that is correct," said a spokesperson from Marape's office, when asked whether the country is set to open the embassy and that Marape would visit Israel next week.

The message at the summit in Johannesburg appeared to encapsulate President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo’s growing frustration with Western partners like the European Union, which has attempted to block Indonesia’s downstreaming of its critical minerals sector by dragging it to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

China National Nuclear Corp, a state-owned company known as CNNC, has bid to build a nuclear plant in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, near the border with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, the newspaper reported, citing Saudi officials familiar with the matter.

The debate over expanding the BRICS bloc, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has topped the agenda at a three-day summit in Johannesburg ending on Thursday.

Calls to enlarge the BRICS -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- has dominated the agenda at its three-day summit in Johannesburg and exposed rifts between members.

An agreement had been meant to be adopted following a plenary session earlier on Wednesday, but it had been delayed after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced new admission criteria.

The state visit will be Xi's second of 2023, after making an official trip to Russia in March.

The meeting in Johannesburg this week of BRICS nations -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- will seek to widen their influence and push for a shift in global geopolitics.

Jokowi landed in Nairobi after an eight-hour trip from Kuala Namu International Airport in North Sumatra aboard a presidential aircraft.

The allegations, which Riyadh did not immediately comment on, point to a significant escalation of abuses along the perilous "Eastern Route" from the Horn of Africa to Saudi Arabia, where hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians live and work. 

A court in 2019 had sentenced Douma, a leading activist in the 2011 uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak, to 15 years in prison on charges of clashing with security forces in the capital two years earlier.

"Barbie" and "Talk to Me" both "promulgate ideas and beliefs that are alien to the Kuwaiti society and public order", Lafy Al-Subei'e, head of Kuwait's cinema censorship committee, told the official KUNA news agency.

U.N. officials and activists have been warning for years that the entire Red Sea coastline was at risk, as the rusting Safer tanker could have ruptured or exploded, spilling four times as much oil as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska.

"We did believe it was productive that China attended," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

Islamic organizations and scholars are suggesting the government to be cautious should it decides to open talks with the Middle Eastern country.

Niger's foreign allies so far have refused to recognize the new military government led by General Abdourahamane Tiani, previously head of the presidential guard, who officers declared head of state on Friday.

The Taliban administration that took back power in August 2021 is trying to shore up recognition of its rule across the Islamic world, including courting Indonesia to boost political and economic ties.

Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian teenager during clashes with stone throwers in the occupied West Bank on Friday, Palestinian officials said.

Putin's potential visit has been a thorny diplomatic issue for South Africa.

In a note to the Security Council, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) took issue with "two unacceptable conditions" in the letter sent by Syria on Thursday outlining its approval of the UN operation.

US officials have been negotiating in a bid to reach an elusive normalization deal between the two countries.