Mena Today

Yemen's Houthis launched surface-to-air missiles at an American fighter jet and MQ-9 Reaper drone this week, but did not hit either, two U.S. officials told Reuters.

The Vatican said on Saturday that Pope Francis' health had deteriorated over the past 24 hours and for the first time described his condition as "critical", reporting he had needed supplemental oxygen and blood transfusions.

The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces will sign a charter with allied political and armed groups on Saturday evening to establish a "government of peace and unity" in the territories controlled by the paramilitary, signatories and politicians al-Hadi Idris and Ibrahim Mirghani told Reuters.

Istanbul’s opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, is facing a new legal challenge as Turkish authorities have launched an investigation into the alleged falsification of his university diploma, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency on Saturday.

Kurdish-led authorities in northeast Syria have begun providing oil from local fields they manage to the central government in Damascus, Syrian oil ministry spokesman Ahmed Suleiman told Reuters on Saturday.

Among the six hostages freed by Hamas on Saturday in return for Palestinian prisoners were an Israeli Bedouin and an Ethiopian-born man who had been in Gaza for years before the October 7, 2023 attack, having wandered into the enclave a decade ago.

The man arrested after a Spanish tourist was stabbed at Berlin's Holocaust memorial on Friday was a 19-year-old Syrian refugee, Berlin prosecutors said, a day before a national election in which concerns over migration are expected to boost the far-right AfD party.

On a wintry night in Damascus, hundreds of people packed into a courtyard in the Old City, dancing and singing during a joyful evening of music - a concert held with the approval of Syria's new, Islamist-led authorities.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf is set to travel to Lebanon on Sunday to attend the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, the former leader of Hezbollah, according to Iranian media reports.

Lebanon secured a crucial victory on Friday night against Bahrain in Group F of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 qualifiers, according to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). 

Friedrich Merz, a man who has never held a government role, is preparing to take the reins in Germany just as the country faces its biggest economic and diplomatic crises in decades and Europe looks urgently for a new generation of leaders for an era of transatlantic tension.

Hamas freed six hostages from Gaza on Saturday, the last living Israeli captives slated for release under the first phase of a fragile ceasefire accord, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.