Mena Today

Libya’s oil sector—central to its economy and global energy markets—is once again under threat, as political divisions between rival governments raise the prospect of export disruptions. 

Hamas said on Saturday it was seeking amendments to a U.S.-backed proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Israel in Gaza, but President Donald Trump's envoy rejected the group's response as "totally unacceptable."

Syria’s Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, Hind Kabawat, has welcomed the recent easing of Western sanctions on her country, calling it a crucial step toward national recovery and the reintegration of millions of displaced citizens.

Israel will not allow a planned meeting in the Palestinian administrative capital of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, to go ahead, an Israeli official said on Saturday, after media reported that Arab ministers planning to attend had been stopped from coming.

Turkish authorities ordered the detention of several opposition party members in Istanbul and raided opposition-run municipalities on Saturday, state media said, part of a widening legal crackdown against the opposition and city's jailed mayor.

The commander of Kurdish forces that control northeast Syria said on Friday that his group is in direct contact with Turkey and that he would be open to improving ties, including by meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

Pakistan will designate an ambassador to Afghanistan, the first since Kabul fell to the Taliban in 2021, the country's foreign minister said on Friday, announcing an upgrade in diplomatic ties that shows some easing of tensions between the two neighbours.

A Georgian court on Friday placed Nika Melia, a leader of the country's main opposition party, in pre-trial detention, amid a widening crackdown against a pro-Western opposition that has staged months of anti-government protests.

Israel said it had struck Houthi targets including the last remaining plane used by the group at Sanaa international airport, after the Yemeni militants launched missiles towards Israel a day earlier.

As the Middle East remains embroiled in the fallout from the October 7 atrocities, French President Emmanuel Macron is once again taking refuge in empty rhetoric, declaring from a podium in Singapore that recognizing a Palestinian state is both a “moral duty” and a “political necessity.” 

Ukraine wants to see a document setting out Russia's proposals for a peace deal before it sends a delegation to Istanbul for bilateral talks, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Friday.

The U.S. plan for Gaza, seen by Reuters on Friday, proposes a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 28 Israeli hostages - alive and dead - in the first week, in exchange for the release of 1,236 Palestinian prisoners and the remains of 180 dead Palestinians.