A nonprofit organization headed by a Lebanese citizen held prisoner in Iran received grants totaling $730,000 from the U.S. government for projects in the Middle East, the Associated Press has learned.

Nizar Zakka, 49, a technology expert and advocate for Internet freedom, was arrested in Tehran in September after being invited by the Iranian government to attend a conference there. Although no charges have been announced, Iranian media has accused him of being an American spy, allegations vigorously rejected by his family and associates.

Bank of Spain figures show that the country's public debt is now worth more than the value of the economy.

The bank said Wednesday that Spain's public debt stockpile stood at 1.09 trillion euros ($1.23 trillion) in the first quarter of the year. That represents 101 percent of the country's annual GDP — 1.08 trillion euros — in 2015.

A leading international rights group on Wednesday released a report documenting atrocities committed by Libya's Islamic State affiliate in the country's coastal city of Sirte, a stronghold of the militants.

In the report, Human Rights Watch recounts "scenes of horror" described by witnesses — atrocities that date back to Feb. 2015 and include beheadings of dozens of residents accused by IS militants of being spies.

The U.S. Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would allow families of Sept. 11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia, rejecting the fierce objections of a U.S. ally and setting Congress on a collision course with the Obama administration.

The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, approved by voice vote, had triggered a threat from Riyadh to pull billions of dollars from the U.S. economy if the bill is enacted.

Egypt's president has declared his support for a French proposal to hold a Mideast peace conference later this year.

Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Tuesday also called on Israel and the Palestinians to seize what he described as a "realistic" and "great" opportunity to reach a peaceful settlement to their decades-old conflict.

Authorities locked down Afghanistan's capital Monday as tens of thousands of ethnic Hazaras marched through the streets calling on the government to reroute a power line through their poverty-stricken province in a massive protest that reflected public dismay with the government of President Ashraf Ghani.

Amid concerns the protest could turn violent, roads leading into central Kabul's commercial district were blocked to all vehicle and foot traffic by police, who shipping containers to prevent the marchers reaching the presidential palace.

An Afghan official says at least three policemen have died after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near a police training base in southern Helmand province.

Omar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor, said Saturday that 12 others, including two civilians, were wounded in the attack.

Iran is staging an international cartoon contest on the Holocaust, saying it is not a denial of the Nazi massacre.

Masuod Shojai-Tabatabai, the secretary of the contest, said Saturday, that they have no interest in denying the Holocaust or "ridiculing its victims."

The Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL) is set to hold a special meeting on Saturday to discuss the U.S. law that targets the sources of funding of Hizbullah which triggered dismay among the party's officials.

The meeting will be chaired by the ABL chief Joseph Tarabay and comes after Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc criticized the central bank for saying it would abide by a U.S. law that came into effect last month and which the party's lawmakers said violates Lebanon's sovereignty.

Former Argentine President Carlos Menem said Friday he believes his son was killed by Hizbullah, which prosecutors also suspect was behind two 1990s bombings in Buenos Aires.

In testimony to a judge overseeing the investigation of his son's death 21 years ago, Menem said that then-Foreign Minister Guido Di Tella had told him he heard through foreign embassies of Hizbullah's alleged involvement.