Mena Today

An explosion was heard Sunday near Erbil airport in northern Iraq's Kurdistan region, where troops from the US-led anti-jihadist coalition remain stationed.

Iran warned on Sunday against any big new attack by the United States and its allies, saying it had information such a move was being prepared, adding to the anxiety in a region already on edge after drone and missile strikes on Saudi Arabia. 

Maronite Patriarch Béchara Raï raised the stakes Sunday, declaring that southern Lebanon "is not a bargaining chip." In his Sunday homily in Mayfouk, in the Jbeil district, the cardinal called for the "protection" of the region, insisting that such protection "begins with the state holding a monopoly on weapons », a thinly veiled call for Hezbollah's disarmament.

A major step forward in Morocco-Israel relations: the two countries "have confirmed their agreement on elevating [their] diplomatic missions to full embassy status," Le Monde reports. 

An Iraqi court on Sunday opened the trial of six French nationals accused of belonging to Islamic State, with a member of the Supreme Judicial Council telling the court that the suspects could face the death penalty if convicted of crimes committed against Iraq and the Iraqi people.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) took first place in state elections in northeastern Germany on Sunday, exit polls showed, delivering the worst result for Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative party since 1949.

The Michelin Guide has unveiled its 2026 hotel selection for Saudi Arabia, spotlighting 54 properties across Riyadh, Jeddah, AlUla and the Red Sea coast, further cementing the kingdom's rapid rise as a global luxury travel destination.

Ukraine launched what Moscow's mayor called the biggest drone attack yet on the Russian capital on Sunday, as Russians voted on the final day of a parliamentary election that President Vladimir Putin has cast as a test of support for the war in Ukraine.

For 24 hours, Israel will live in slow motion. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, begins Sunday evening. 

The United States has warned it fears a "rapid escalation" of hostilities in the Middle East, following Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia that struck the kingdom's capital for the first time in months.

World leaders gather in New York this week for the UN General Assembly, bracing for President Donald Trump's return to the rostrum for a second year running, with talks centering on the widening conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine and the risks of artificial intelligence.

The Saudi-led military coalition announced Sunday that it had intercepted a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels toward Riyadh, where explosions were heard at dawn, the first such incident since hostilities resumed between the kingdom and the Iran-backed fighters.