Mena Today

Lebanon's new government won a confidence vote in parliament on Wednesday, following a speech by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam promising to push for economic and financial reforms and to start negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.

Russian and U.S. diplomats will meet in Istanbul on Thursday for talks aimed at restoring their respective diplomatic missions, seen as a step towards ending the war in Ukraine, both sides said on Wednesday.

Pro-Kurdish DEM party lawmakers are set to meet Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), for the third time this Thursday. 

President Vladimir Putin hosted Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo for talks in the Kremlin on Wednesday, the latest sign of a drive by Moscow to build up economic and security relationships with countries in west and central Africa.

Dozens of dignitaries walked out of Russia's speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday in support of Ukraine.

Iran's stock of uranium close to weapons grade has jumped since it announced a dramatic acceleration in enrichment in December and there has been no progress on resolving outstanding issues, two reports by the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday.

Israelis mourned the family that symbolised the trauma their country suffered in the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, as the Palestinian militant group agreed to free the last hostage bodies included in the initial phase of the Gaza ceasefire.

Satellite images show at least three drones and the construction of hangars at an airport in South Darfur held by Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF), evidence of the continuing stream of increasingly advanced weapons fuelling a devastating war.

Mediators have reached a deal to release Palestinian prisoners who were originally set to be freed by Israeli authorities last Saturday, along with the handover of Israeli hostages' bodies by Hamas, an Egyptian source said on Wednesday.

Israeli warplanes hit a town south of Syria's capital as well as the southern province of Daraa late on Tuesday, residents, security sources and local broadcaster Syria TV said.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday floated the idea of replacing a visa program for foreign investors with a so-called "gold card" that could be bought for $5 million as a route to American citizenship.

An Israeli woman kidnapped by Hamas Palestinian militants recounted her ordeal at the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, telling the 15-member body she did not think she would make it out alive, and pleading for a ceasefire to continue.