Mena Today

Benjamin Netanyahu came first. He did not win. Final results from Tuesday’s election hand his camp a lead but no majority, deliver a historic breakthrough for Arab parties and leave Israel facing weeks, perhaps months, of political uncertainty.

Yemen's Houthis denied launching any attack towards Saudi Arabia on Friday, after the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by the group over the Mecca region.

Russia and Ukraine said on Thursday that demining operations around the Russian-held town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine had been completed and that an operation to bring aid and allow residents to leave was ready to begin.

Qatari mediators returned to Tehran on Friday as part of efforts to reach a deal between the US and Iran, an official briefed on the talks told Reuters.

When Turkey's opposition made big gains in local elections in March 2024, its leaders believed they had finally found a way to defeat long-serving President Tayyip Erdogan.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday that the recently signed maritime deal between Libya's eastern ‌parliament and Turkey was "blatantly illegal, null and void," adding that it "completely disregards the geography."

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) raised its key interest rates by 100 basis points on Thursday, its first increase since March 2024, in a move that caught analysts off guard as the pound slid to record lows.

The first Russian diesel bound for the US following a surprise agreement reached between Moscow and US President Donald Trump is aboard a tanker heading for New York, ship-tracking data showed on Friday.

Two people were killed and one other injured when rocks from a fairy chimney, a volcanic geological formation, fell after heavy rainfall in the popular Turkish resort of Cappadocia on Thursday, the local governor said.

US President Donald Trump said that Vice President JD Vance's outreach to Iran was about helping the country get medical supplies, after US media reported Vance had written to Tehran's top security official to revive peace talks.

Benjamin Netanyahu alleged on Thursday, without providing evidence, that Arab parties' record gains in an election this week were driven in part by voter fraud, a charge rejected by Arab leaders who accused the premier of incitement.

Lebanon will host the senior Asian Alpine Ski Championships in 2028 at the Mzaar Ski Resort in Kfardebian, the Lebanese Ski and Biathlon Federation confirmed on Thursday. Exact dates have yet to be announced.