Across the Middle East this week, long-simmering turmoil in many countries exploded into the open as unrest gripped Yemen, Jordan tried to free a pilot held by the Islamic State group and Hezbollah attacked Israeli troops.

In Sanaa, Yemen's capital, Shiite rebels known as Houthis besieged the country's embattled president, who has resigned his post amid their offensive.

The Jordanian government tried to hold indirect negotiations to a free a pilot held by the Islamic State group after the purported beheading of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto.

Near Chebaa Farms, a disputed tract of land where the borders of Israel, Lebanon and Syria meet, an anti-tank missile fired by Hezbollah fighters killed two Israeli soldiers. Israel responded with artillery fire that killed a United Nations peacekeeper in the most serious violence since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

The Chebaa Farms attack by Hezbollah was sparked by a purported Israeli airstrike earlier that killed six of the Lebanese Shiite militant group's fighters and an Iranian general in Syria. This week, Hezbollah held a huge rally in Beirut in honor of its dead.

In Cairo, the capital of Egypt, anger stirred over the death of a protester killed during a peaceful march. Witnesses say she was shot by police.

U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama also traveled to Saudi Arabia this week after the death of King Abdullah.

In sports, Qatar hosted the 24th Men's Handball World Championships, as the United Arab Emirates held the Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament.

And finally, Egyptian officials held a news conference to promise that the famed gold mask of King Tutankhamun would be restored to its former glory after a staffer apparently used glue to re-attach its broken blue-and-gold braided beard.

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This gallery contains photos published from Jan. 26 to Feb. 1. See the latest AP photo galleries: http://apne.ws/TXeCBN