United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan made his first public appearance Sunday since suffering a stroke more than three years ago, to mark the Eid al-Fitr Muslim holiday.

Iraqi forces battled deep into the devastated historical heart of Mosul and closed in fast on the last pockets of jihadists Sunday, eight months into an epic battle to retake the city.

A independent Bahraini newspaper has sacked its staff three weeks after Sunni-dominated authorities banned it on accusations that it "sows division" in the Shiite-majority Gulf kingdom.

The Netherlands reacted coolly Sunday after Morocco summoned its ambassador home in a row about the extradition of an alleged drug trafficker, saying comments by Rabat were "incomprehensible and unnecessary."

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad led Eid al-Fitr prayers in the central city of Hama on Sunday, appearing in public outside the capital for the first time in a year.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday welcomed Qatar's dismissal of a sweeping list of demands from Saudi Arabia and its allies in an escalating crisis and said the ultimatum was "against international law."

Journalist Veronique Robert, wounded in the same landmine blast that killed two colleagues in the Iraqi city of Mosul earlier this week, has died, employers France Televisions announced Saturday.

Both Iran and Qatar on Saturday voiced support for Saudi Arabia over a suicide bombing near Islam's holiest site in Mecca despite their severed ties.

Suicide bombers attacked a shopping district of east Mosul that was retaken from the jihadists months ago, killing at least three people, medical and security officials said Saturday.

Faced with a sweeping set of demands, Qatar insisted Friday it can indefinitely survive the economic and diplomatic steps its neighbors have taken to try to pressure it into compliance, even as a top Emirati official warned the tiny country to brace for a long-term economic squeeze.

Given 10 days to make a decision, Qatar said it was reviewing the specific concessions demanded of the tiny Persian Gulf nation, which include shuttering Al-Jazeera and cutting ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. But Qatari officials didn't budge from their previous insistence that they won't sit down with Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations to negotiate an end to the crisis while under siege.