Mena Today

Pope Leo set off on Monday for an ambitious 10-day tour of four countries in Africa, in a bid to urge global leaders to address the needs on the continent where more than a fifth of the world's Catholics live.

The head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) branch in Ankara, Ümit Erkol, was arrested and remanded in custody on Sunday following questioning in a corruption investigation.

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it had summoned Iraq's ambassador over what it described as threats targeting the kingdom and other Gulf states from drones launched from Iraqi territory.

In the hours following the collapse of Iran-US negotiations in Pakistan, Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi took to X with a message of studied diplomatic balance. 

Benin's finance minister Romuald Wadagni was expected to coast to victory in a presidential election on Sunday, buoyed by strong economic growth and the absence of a credible challenger amid mounting fears over jihadist violence.

President Donald Trump said on Sunday the U.S. Navy would immediately start blockading the Strait of Hormuz, raising the stakes after marathon talks with Iran failed to reach a deal to end the war, jeopardising a fragile two-week ceasefire.

Speaking to the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square following his traditional Sunday prayer, Pope Leo XIV said he felt "closer than ever" to the Lebanese people "in these days of pain, fear and indestructible hope in God." 

Hungary's veteran nationalist leader Viktor Orban lost power to the upstart centre-right Tisza party in Sunday's national election after 16 years in office, marking a setback for his allies in Russia and U.S. President Donald Trump's White House.

A second flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza was due to set sail on Sunday from the Spanish port of Barcelona to try to break the Israeli blockade.

The talks in Islamabad are over. The verdict is in. And it could not be clearer.

The U.S. and Iran failed to reach an agreement to end their war despite marathon talks that concluded on Sunday in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, jeopardising a fragile ceasefire.

Israel said on Saturday it had reprimanded Spain's most senior diplomat in Tel Aviv over the blowing up of a giant effigy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Spanish town this week.