Mena Today

Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, will arrive in Britain on Monday for a two-day state visit hosted by King Charles and during which he will also meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is seeking deeper ties with wealthy Gulf states.

The U.S. and the United Arab Emirates have discussed with each other the possibility of lifting sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if he peels himself away from Iran and cuts off weapons routes to Lebanon's Hezbollah, five people familiar with the matter said.

Syrian rebels' capture of Aleppo from President Bashar al-Assad has brought the Syrian civil war back into focus, jolting frontlines that had been dormant for years with implications for the region and beyond.

Developments in Syria show the need for the Syrian government to reconcile with its people and the opposition, and Turkey is ready to contribute to such a dialogue, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday.

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan and "discussed the need for de-escalation and the protection of civilian lives and infrastructure" in Syria, against the backdrop of rebel attacks in Idlib, Aleppo and Hama in the northwest of the country. 

The Lufthansa group that includes Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings said on Monday that it was extending the suspension of its flights to Israel until January 31, 2025. 

An Israeli drone targeted a Lebanese military bulldozer while it was carrying out fortification work inside the Al-Abbara military base near Lebanon's border with Syria, the Lebanese army said on Monday.

Romanian centrist and leftist parties looked to have fended off a surge by the nationalist right in Sunday's parliamentary election, as attention turned to a top court ruling later on Monday on whether to annul the results of a presidential vote.

Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi was released from prison on Dec. 1 after completing a one-year sentence for speaking out against the Iranian regime, the Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency reported early on Monday.

Hundreds of fighters from Iran-backed Iraqi militias crossed into Syria overnight to help the government fight rebels who seized Aleppo last week, Syrian and Iraqi sources said on Monday, and Tehran pledged to aid the Damascus government.

Pro-Turkish rebel groups captured the strategic city of Tal Rifaat in northern Syria on Sunday, which had been under Kurdish control, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Russian war bloggers reported on Sunday that Moscow has dismissed Sergei Kisel, the general in charge of its forces in Syria, after insurgents swept into the city of Aleppo in the biggest challenge to President Bashar al-Assad in years.