Iran's supreme leader has held talks with a senior Yemeni rebel official just days after the long-running intervention against the rebels by its regional foes Saudi Arabia and the UAE suffered a major setback.

Saudi Arabia is building a futuristic megacity with promises of talking robots and flying taxis, but for hundreds of thousands like academic Abdullah a simple dream remains elusive -- owning a home. 

Saudi Arabia has decided to allow adult women to travel without seeking approval from a so-called male "guardian", a flagship reform as the petro-state seeks to overhaul its ultra-conservative image.

Saudi Arabia will allow women to travel abroad without approval from a male "guardian", the government said Thursday, ending a restriction that drew international censure and prompted extreme attempts to flee the kingdom.

The trial of Saudi dissident cleric Sheikh Salman al-Awda is to resume Sunday after an almost six-month postponement, Amnesty International said, expressing fear he will be sentenced to death.

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.

Saudi Arabia says it has intercepted a drone launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeting "civilian infrastructure" in the kingdom.

The announcement on the state-run Saudi Press Agency early Tuesday did not identify what the drone targeted.

The sister of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia faces a verdict Tuesday in a French trial over the alleged beating of a workman who was refurbishing her ultra-luxury apartment in Paris. 

Hassa bint Salman, sister of powerful Mohammed bin Salman who is known by his initial "MBS", stands accused of ordering her bodyguard to beat up the workman after he was seen taking a photo inside her home in September 2016.

Yemeni rebel drones targeting a civilian airport in southern Saudi Arabia were intercepted on Thursday, a Riyadh-led military coalition said, as the Iran-linked group steps up attacks on the kingdom.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Huthi rebels have stepped up drone and missile attacks on Saudi cities, highlighting what analysts call the kingdom's military vulnerabilities amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington.

Nine civilians were wounded Tuesday in a rebel attack on Abha airport in the kingdom's south, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels said, the latest in a series of recent strikes on the site.