The foreign policies of Saudi King Abdullah, who passed away on Thursday, translated into a powerful assertion of Saudi Arabia's influence around the Middle East.

He floated the idea of the Arab Peace Initiative when he was crown prince at the 2002 Arab League summit that was held in Beirut.

The Appeals Panel of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has unanimously decided that the court does have jurisdiction to hear cases of obstruction of justice against legal persons in the case against the journalist Ibrahim al-Amin and al-Akhbar newspaper, the STL said in a statement on Friday.

“Following an appeal by the Amicus Curiae Prosecutor, the Appeals Panel – composed of Judge Afif Chamseddine (presiding), Judge Janet Nosworthy and Judge Ivana Hrdlièková – reversed the Contempt Judge’s previous decision on jurisdiction where he held that Rule 60 bis of the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence – that governs contempt and obstruction of justice offenses -- only applies to natural persons,” the court announced.

Israeli forces went briefly on high alert near the border with Lebanon on Wednesday evening, closing roads and asking residents to stay indoors, following reports of a suspected infiltration by a number of militants.

“After sending troops to the area, the IDF (Israeli army) Spokesman announced no infiltration has occurred, but asked that residents remained in their homes,” the website of Israel's Yediot Ahronot newspaper reported.

Hizbullah held funerals Wednesday for two of its fighters who were killed Sunday in an unprecedented Israeli airstrike on the Syrian region of Quneitra.

Coincidence doubled the grief in the southern town of Ghaziyeh, where a joint funeral was held for the slain young fighter Abbas Hijazi, aka Sayyed Jawad, and his father who died in coma only a few hours after the lethal Israeli strike. The father had been lying unconscious in an intensive care unit for around a month.

Defiant Shiite militiamen seized control of Yemen's presidential palace and attacked President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi's residence Tuesday in what officials said was a bid to overthrow his embattled government.

As the U.N. Security Council began an emergency meeting to condemn the attack and back Hadi, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "gravely concerned" and called for an immediate halt to the fighting.

Israel is on high alert for possible attacks from Hizbullah following an airstrike on its members in Syria, Israeli defense officials said Tuesday, as the Jewish State boosted deployment of its "Iron Dome" anti-missile aerial defense system along its northern frontier.

Israel has also increased surveillance activities in the area which borders Lebanon and Syria, the officials said.

Hizbullah's Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of its slain former military commander, was laid to rest on Monday a day after an Israeli strike in Syria that killed six of the party's fighters.

The raid, near Quneitra on the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan Heights, enraged the group's supporters, but analysts said Hizbullah would seek to avoid a major escalation with Israel.

Several Hizbullah fighters were killed Sunday in an Israeli airstrike on the Quneitra region in the Syrian sector of the Golan Heights.

“The Israeli enemy's helicopters fired missiles at a group of Hizbullah fighters who were inspecting the town of Mazraat al-Amal in the Syrian Quneitra region,” Hizbullah's media department announced in a statement.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday said his party's hand is extended for an “honorable” dialogue with the Free Patriotic Movement, as he reminded that he is still a “presidential candidate.”

“We did not fight during the war to surrender during peace times. We are people who fight honorably and engage in dialogue honorably,” said Geagea at a Maarab ceremony for handing membership cards to LF members.

The army denied on Wednesday a report saying that the military received weapons under two grants by Saudi Arabia that are below the standards.

“The report is completely false,” the army command said in a communique.