Mena Today

U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran would be "hit very hard" on Saturday and that he was considering widening the areas and groups of people being, targeted, without providing details.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Saturday the military must be loyal to the Communist Party and root out corruption, according to a report by the official Xinhua news agency.

Israel's military carried out an airborne operation that dropped troops into a town in eastern Lebanon overnight, residents and Lebanese state media said on Saturday, as heavy Israeli strikes on the area left more than a dozen people dead. 

Airline pilots have faced escalating risks in recent years, from drone incursions to flight paths squeezed by conflict. Now U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran are making the skies even more perilous and ratcheting up the pressure on those flying through them.

Israel and Iran traded attacks on Saturday as the war entered its second week, while Tehran issued an apology to neighbouring states for its "actions", in an apparent bid to ease regional anger at Iranian strikes on Gulf Arab civilian targets.

France's left-leaning daily Le Monde chose a telling headline for its Saturday edition: "Israel's offensive plunges Lebanon into chaos."

European Union member states that join the U.S. and Israel attacks on Iran would become "legitimate targets" for Iran, Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said in an interview with TV station France 24.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Crown Prince of Fujairah, visited Friday the fieldwork teams and defence personnel stationed at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ), a facility that was among the targets struck during Iran's sweeping missile and drone offensive against Gulf states earlier this week.

Israel has been bombing parts of western Iran to support Iranian Kurdish militias who hope to exploit the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran to seize towns near the frontier, according to three sources familiar with Israel's talks with the factions.

The United States will respond to Iranian attacks on civilians throughout the Middle East, the leader of the U.S. Central Command, Brad Cooper, said on Friday.

France's special envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, took a rare step forward on Friday, publicly blaming Hezbollah for choosing Iran over Lebanon. 

Militants killed 15 soldiers and wounded five more at a military camp in northern Benin, an army spokesperson said on Friday, as violence spreads in the West African region.