Tens of thousands of people joined an anti-government rally in Sanaa on Monday in response to a call by Shiite rebel commander Abdulmalik al-Huthi, an Agence France Presse journalist reported.

The protesters assembled in Change Square before parading in the center of the capital, where supporters of the rebels, who are known as Huthis or Ansarullah, had converged during the morning after travelling from outside the city.

Four Saudi men were decapitated by the sword in Najran in the southwest of the Gulf kingdom on Monday after being convicted of drug trafficking, the interior ministry said.

Brothers Hadi and Awad al-Motleq and their accomplices Mufarraj and Ali al-Yami were found to have smuggled "a large quantity of hashish" into the country, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.

Kurdish peshmerga fighters backed by federal forces and U.S. warplanes pressed a counter-offensive Monday against jihadists after retaking Iraq's largest dam, as the United States and Britain stepped up their military involvement.

The recapture of Mosul dam marks the biggest prize yet clawed back from Islamic State (IS) jihadists since they launched a major offensive in northern Iraq in June, sweeping Iraqi security forces aside.

Two unidentified aircraft flew over Libya's capital before dawn on Monday and loud explosions were heard, days after fresh clashes between militias prompted hundreds of people to flee.

A statement by the provisional government, which lacks any real authority, said it was not known whose aircraft had attacked militia positions.

A policeman was killed and another seriously wounded in northern Egypt on Monday when gunmen in a parked car fired at patrolling officers, a security official said.

The two policemen were on patrol in the Nile Delta province of Gharbiya when they approached a car parked at the side of a road, the official said.

Kalashnikov-wielding robbers have attacked the motorcade of a Saudi prince in Paris, making off with 250,000 euros ($335,000) in cash and reportedly stealing "sensitive" documents, French police said Monday.

The spectacular robbery took place in northern Paris late on Sunday as the motorcade was making its way from a plush hotel on the Champs Elysees to an airport in Le Bourget, said police, who confirmed there were no injuries.

International donors will meet in Cairo to pledge funds for the reconstruction of Gaza as soon as a lasting ceasefire is reached between Israel and the Palestinians, Norway announced Monday.

The funds raised under the aegis of Egypt and Norway will be released to Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, said Norwegian Foreign Minister Boerge Brende, whose country heads the international coordination committee for aid to the Palestinians.

A strong 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck the province of Ilam in western Iran on Monday, injuring at least 250 people and causing extensive damage to buildings, Iranian media said.

The U.S. Geological Survey, reporting the magnitude of the quake at 6.3, said it struck 36 kilometers (22 miles) southeast of the city of Abdanan, near the border with Iraq.

Japan's government said Monday it was investigating a video posted online that appears to show a kidnapped Japanese man being roughly interrogated by Syrian militants.

The video, which surfaced over the weekend, shows a man who identified himself as Haruna Yukawa lying on the ground with blood trickling down his face as his apparent captors question him.

U.S. President Barack Obama told Congress on Sunday that the "limited" airstrikes he has authorized on Iraq to retake its largest dam from militants protected U.S. interests there.

National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the airstrikes supporting security forces were consistent with the War Powers Resolution, which requires congressional approval before the president can launch the country into war.