Damascus said Friday it would reject any agreement between Turkey and the US to establish a "security zone" in northern Syria as tantamount to a violation of the country's sovereignty.

More than 400,000 people have been displaced in northwestern Syria over the past three months, the UN said Friday, as the government presses an intensified bombardment of the rebel-held region.

Sunni-ruled Bahrain seeks to rebrand itself as an open and tolerant state after long being criticised by international rights groups for its crackdown on Shiite protesters, experts said.

A Libyan militia has arrested a number of al-Qaida-linked jihadist leaders in a raid near the capital Tripoli, the group said.

Air strikes by the regime and its Russian ally killed 10 civilians including three children in northwest Syria Thursday, a monitor said.

Left-wing Meretz and the new party of former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak said Thursday they had formed an alliance to boost the bloc ahead of September's general election.

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, the country's first leader elected in nationwide polls, died at the age of 92 on Thursday, triggering political uncertainty ahead of planned elections. 

Saudi air defences intercepted a Yemeni rebel drone targeting a southwestern city on Thursday, a Riyadh-led military coalition said, as cross-border attacks by the rebels showed no let-up.

Maha al-Nasser queues in front of a crowded clinic in Syria's Al-Hol camp, her frail daughter squirming in her arms under the stifling desert heat.

"My daughter has suffered from convulsions and malnutrition," said 30-year-old Nasser, her face covered in a black veil.

Turkey said Wednesday that it was not satisfied with the buffer zone solutions offered by the United States in northern Syria, aimed at preventing clashes between Turkish and Kurdish forces.