U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is heading back to the Middle East as efforts to hold Syria peace talks bog down, Israeli-Palestinian negotiations stumble and rare tensions with key ally Saudi Arabia flare into the open.

With the Obama administration taking fire at home and abroad for what is perceived to be its indecisive Syria policy and Arab unease about its outreach to Iran, Kerry is hitting the road again seeking to ease tensions and soothe allies vital to its Middle East ambitions.

A Saudi court on Wednesday sentenced a Jordanian to nine years in prison and 80 lashes after he was convicted of spying for Israel, local media reported.

The specialized court charged the man with "contacting Israeli Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) and contacting a Zionist intelligence officer in voice and picture via email, as well as agreeing to go to them and cooperate with their intelligence," reported Alriyadh daily on its website.

Saudi prominent rights lawyer Waleed Abulkhair said on Wednesday a court has sentenced him to three months in prison over a petition he signed two years ago criticizing the authorities.

Abulkhair told Agence France Presse he would remain out of jail pending an appeal of the sentence.

A Saudi diplomat involved in a fatal road accident while allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol has left Iran, media reported Wednesday.

"The diplomat left Tehran on September 27 after the end of an examination of his case," the official IRNA news agency quoted an "informed source" as saying, without giving further details.

A Saudi journalist accused of making Tweets deemed insulting to Islam's Prophet Mohammed was on Tuesday freed from detention after 20 months, a human rights activist said.

Hamza Kashgari fled Saudi Arabia to Malaysia in February 2012 after receiving death threats for Tweets he made on the occasion of the prophet's birthday.

A Saudi rights group said Monday it is investigating a video appearing to show a local man brutally beating up an Asian worker in the kingdom that hosts millions of foreign laborers.

The video posted online shows a man dressed in the traditional Saudi white Thawb cloak, slapping, lashing and kicking an Asian man.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah criticized on Monday the state for failing to address the networks that are planting booby-trapped cars in Lebanon.

He said: “The state is aware of the activity of these networks, but is not lifting a finger to stop them.”

A woman in her 80s with the MERS virus has died in the Eastern Province, raising to 52 the death toll from the infection in Saudi Arabia, the health ministry announced Monday.

It said the woman, aged 83, also suffered from chronic diseases.

Republican lawmakers urged President Barack Obama on Sunday to repair U.S. ties with Saudi Arabia, after the critical Gulf ally protested against Washington's policy on Syria and Iran.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said the rift with Riyadh has been developing over the past two years, pointing to a 2011 U.S. decision to keep the Syrian conflict at bay and the "quick rush to the sweet talk" from Iran on its suspect nuclear program in recent months.

At least 16 Saudi women have received fines for taking the wheel on a day set by activists to defy the kingdom's traditional ban on female driving, police and reports said Sunday.

Only few women braved official threats of punishment and drove on Saturday in response to an online campaign headlined "Women's driving is a choice."