At least 35 people were killed in air strikes that hit a small hotel near a Houthi-run checkpoint north of the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Wednesday, a local medic and Houthi's television station.

Senior U.S. officials including presidential adviser Jared Kushner have met with leaders in Saudi Arabia and Qatar to discuss the peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians, the state news agencies of the two Gulf countries said late on Tuesday.

A row over access for Qataris to Islam's annual haj pilgrimage is further poisoning relations between their country and Saudi Arabia and aggravating a wider diplomatic rift with other Arab powers.

Iraqi forces breached on Tuesday the city limits of Tal Afar, an Islamic State stronghold west of Mosul, military authorities said.

Influential Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr's visit to Saudi Arabia at the end of July signalled the Gulf Sunni powerhouse's ambition to distance its Iranian foe from policy-making in Baghdad.

Iran can resume high-level uranium enrichment within five days if the United States tears up the nuclear deal, the head of its Atomic Energy Organisation said Tuesday.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrived in Iraq on Tuesday, just days after the start of an offensive to take back the city of Tal Afar, to speak with Iraqi leaders about the next steps in the fight against Islamic State.

Qatar has criticised an offer by Saudi Arabia to convey Qataris to the haj pilgrimage on the kingdom's national carrier, Saudi Arabia Airlines, rather than allowing Qatar's airline or others to fly them to the Islamic rite in Mecca.

Saudi Arabia plans to transfer ownership of all its airports to its main sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, as part of a drive to privatize them, a senior aviation official said on Monday.

Qatar today denied it had banned Saudi Arabian flights from landing in the emirate to transport Muslim pilgrims to Mecca, after an accusation by authorities in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia's state carrier said on Sunday it had been unable to send planes to transport Qatari pilgrims to the kingdom because it had been unable to get permission to land at Doha airport amid a diplomatic dispute between the two countries.

Saudi Arabia's central bank said on Saturday it had not banned trading of the Qatari riyal since Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Doha, and said visiting Qatari citizens could exchange their currency.

Five weeks after securing victory in Mosul, Iraqi forces have moved into positions around the city of Tal Afar, their next objective in the U.S.-backed campaign to defeat Islamic State militants, Iraqi military commanders say.

Qatar expressed concern about the safety of its citizens in Saudi Arabia following the reopening of the countries' border enabling Qataris to attend the annual haj pilgrimage in Mecca.

Top United Nations officials on Friday warned violence in Yemen was worsening and greater access was needed to the Houthi rebel-held north, particularly through the key Red Sea port of Hodeidah.

The Canadian Globe newspaper said that Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland launched investigation into Saudi forces’ use of Canadian-made light-armoured vehicles against Saudi citizens in Awamiyah.

Qatari pilgrims began arriving in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, Saudi media reported, after Riyadh said it was opening up its border and airports for those attending the annual haj pilgrimage despite a diplomatic rift that cut travel ties.

Qatar welcomes the opening of the Saudi-Qatari border enabling Qataris to go on pilgrimage to Mecca, even if the move is politically-motivated, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said on Thursday.

A Saudi Arabia-led military coalition was responsible for an "unacceptably high" 51 percent of child deaths and injuries in Yemen last year, according to a draft United Nations report seen by Reuters on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it would welcome Qatari pilgrims to Saudi Arabia to perform the haj this season, amidst a feud that has triggered tensions between the two nations since June.