Mena Today

There are bad deals. There are weak deals. And then there are deals that dress surrender as diplomacy, and ask Israel to applaud while the knife is being sharpened.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he had told his representatives not to rush into any deal with Iran, appearing to dampen hopes of an imminent breakthrough in the three-month-old war that had been raised by both sides a day earlier.

Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch Béchara Raï used his Sunday homily to call for the success of ongoing negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, renewing his longstanding plea for Lebanese neutrality and urging "collective responsibility" in the face of chaos and poverty gripping Beirut.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. President Donald Trump Israel would remain free to act against threats in Lebanon during a phone call about an emerging agreement between Washington and Iran on Saturday, an Israeli source said.

Turkish riot police fired tear gas and forced their way into the main opposition party's headquarters to evict its ousted leadership on Sunday, deepening a crisis at the heart of Turkey's democracy.   

A deal with Iran may be hours away, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested Sunday, raising hopes of a formal end to the Middle East conflict that has roiled global energy markets since February.

Cyprus's far right appeared set for gains in Sunday's election while an anti-corruption newcomer looked set to enter parliament, according to exit polls that showed weaker support for centrist parties backing President Nikos Christodoulides.

The U.S. military conducted a drill over Caracas on Saturday, its first military exercise in Venezuela since U.S. troops attacked the capital and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on January 3.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, met Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš in Prague on a working visit.

A "largely negotiated" memorandum of understanding on an Iran peace deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday, although the Iranian Fars news agency disputed that claim.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that a memorandum of understanding on a peace deal has been "largely negotiated" with Iran and will open the Strait of Hormuz, with details to be unveiled soon.

Iran, the United States and mediator Pakistan all said on Saturday that progress had been made in talks on ending almost three months of war.