Mena Today

Leaking crude oil from a tanker grounded off a nature reserve in Oman has created a slick covering almost 400 square kilometres, the country's government said on Monday.

Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Tuesday it could declare force majeure and completely halt operations at the Zawiya refinery if drone attacks on oil assets in the city continued, after reporting a third such attack over Sunday and Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu restated his rejection of Donald Trump's latest Gaza plan in televised remarks to his right-wing government on Sunday, even as Israel's military has effectively halted attacks in the territory under pressure from the U.S. President. 

Syria and Russia reached a memorandum of understanding to settle the future of Russian bases at Tartous and Hmeimim following 18 months of intensive negotiations, the Syrian foreign ministry said on Sunday, according to the Syrian state news agency.

Iran said on Sunday that a deal with Oman defining new shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz was in its final stages but reiterated that the waterway would only reopen once the United States met other conditions.

A defence pact signed between Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is technically the same as NATO's Article 5 mutual defence agreement, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday, adding the accord was not targeting Iran.

US Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and James Lankford (R-OK) introduced legislation Thursday that would authorize up to $1.2 billion in security assistance to Lebanon over five years, with part of the funding conditioned on Beirut's progress toward a state monopoly on arms and the disarmament of Hezbollah.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis launched ballistic missiles and drones at displacement camps and residential neighbourhoods in the city of Marib on Friday, killing two people and wounding 14, state news agency SABA reported, citing local authorities.

Iran said on Saturday that a deal with Oman on control of the Strait of Hormuz was close but would not be enough to free up the waterway, and the United Arab Emirates said Iran had hit another ship there.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi met Saudi general intelligence chief Khalid al-Humaidan on Friday to discuss coordination over regional security developments, the prime minister's office said.

Spain's government said on Friday it would establish border controls for flights and ships from Italy from midnight on Saturday until September 7 in a dispute with the neighbouring country over irregular migration.

Lebanon and Israel have agreed a shortlist of countries that could send troops to verify the disarmament of Hezbollah under a U.S.-brokered agreement, a Lebanese official said on Friday, with the United States due to pick countries from the list.