Mena Today

The United Nations' Yemen mediator arrived in Yemen's capital on Monday as part of a bid to subdue heightened tensions in his first visit in almost two years, a spokesperson said.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, welcomed on Monday Asaad al-Shibani, Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Syrian Transitional Government.

The National Salvation Front in Syria, an organization opposing Bashar al-Assad's regime, issued a statement on Monday addressing recent visits to Damascus by foreign officials, including the French and German foreign ministers. 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Monday for a final push for a Gaza ceasefire before President Joe Biden leaves office, after a Hamas official told Reuters the group had cleared a list of 34 hostages as first to go free under a truce.

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy went on trial on Monday, on charges of having received millions of euros in illegal financing from Libya's late strongman Muammar Gaddafi for his successful 2007 presidential bid.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that the Iranian nuclear programme was approaching the point of no return, adding that France would need to have a strategic discussion regarding Iran with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.

Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty and his Lebanese counterpart, Abdullah Bou Habib, held a phone conversation to discuss the political developments in Lebanon, particularly in light of the upcoming parliamentary session aimed at electing a new president.

Three Israelis were killed on Monday and several injured in a shooting attack on a car and bus near the settlement of Kedumim in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Israel's national ambulance service Magen David Adom (MDA) said.

Turkey has launched an investigation into an opposition mayor's comments about Syrians, including his claims that he unlawfully revoked some of their business licences in his northwestern district of Bolu.

China's top diplomat began his annual New Year tour of Africa on Sunday, maintaining a 35-year-long tradition, to quietly advance Beijing's already sizeable influence across the resource-rich continent as Europe's presence wanes and America's wavers.

The U.S. is set to announce an easing of restrictions on providing humanitarian aid and other basic services such as electricity to Syria while maintaining its strict sanctions regime, people briefed on the matter told Reuters.