Mena Today

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun launched a scathing attack on Hezbollah Monday, accusing the Iran-backed group of deliberately seeking to trigger Lebanon's « collapse », and calling for direct negotiations with Israel to end the war.

 Madagascar's President Michael Randrianirina, who seized power in October, has dismissed his prime minister and the entire cabinet on Monday, his spokesperson said in a statement.

Oman's Muscat International Airport said on Monday it did not send a message seen by some charter executives that asked private jets to avoid using the site for "additional flights," to give priority to government and commercial traffic.

Saudi Arabia began oil output cuts, becoming the latest Gulf producer impacted by the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran that has halted ship traffic in the region, sending crude prices up nearly 30% on Monday to $119 a barrel and prompting G7 countries to consider releasing emergency oil stocks.

The United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva called on Monday for a de-escalation of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and a return to negotiations.

The U.S. Justice Department has agreed to resolve its long-running criminal prosecution of Turkish state-run lender Halkbank, the judge overseeing the case said in a court filing on Monday, without providing further details of the deal. 

The U.S. is nearing a deal with Mali that will allow Washington to resume flying aircraft and drones over the West African country's airspace to gather intelligence on jihadist groups linked to al Qaeda, according to one current U.S. official and a former U.S. official. 

France is sending two frigates to the Red Sea as part of the EU's Aspides naval mission. Emmanuel Macron, meeting with the leaders of Cyprus and Greece, spoke of a "purely defensive, purely escort mission." A measured gesture. A careful statement. A perfectly calibrated non-event.

Iran's new supreme leader faces a massive external assault and growing internal anger at a time when the backing of the diehard ideologues who supported his predecessors is less clear than before.

Hezbollah said on Monday its fighters clashed with Israeli troops in eastern Lebanon during an Israeli airborne raid overnight, in what would be the second such operation in the area in recent days, as the war between Israel and the Iran-backed group entered a second week.

As Iran relentlessly targets Gulf states with drones and missiles, governments across the region are moving aggressively to control the flow of information on social media.

Iranians living abroad could have property confiscated and face other legal penalties if they express support for the United States and Israel, the Iranian prosecutor general's office said on Monday.