Mena Today

Seven migrants were rescued, but at least 20 are missing after their boat sank en route to Italy from Libya, the mayor of the Italian island of Lampedusa said on Wednesday.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi ushered in 2025 with a heartfelt message of hope and unity, extending his best wishes to the people of Egypt and the world on the occasion of the New Year.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Ju Ae attended New Year's celebrations including fireworks and an ice dancing display, state media KCNA reported on Wednesday.

Oman will implement a minimum top-up tax (DMTT) of 15% on multinational enterprises operating in the country, starting in January, the sultanate's state news agency reported on Tuesday, citing a royal decree.

Romania and Bulgaria scrapped land border controls to become full members of the European Union's Schengen free-travel area on Wednesday, joining an expanded bloc of countries whose residents can travel without passport checks.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that, according to Arab mediators, negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the release of the hostages have once again reached a dead end. 

The next round of nuclear talks between Iran and three European countries will take place on Jan. 13 in Geneva, Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency cited the country's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi as saying on Wednesday.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani announced on Tuesday a phone call with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, marking the first official contact reported between the two nations. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got up from his hospital bed to call on unruly coalition partners to fall in line and back his government's 2025 budget after hardline rebels threatened to pull support for the bill.

An unusual number of Israelis, approximately 82,700, left the country in 2024 amid the ongoing war, according to data released on Tuesday by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) for the start of the new year. 

The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on entities in Iran and Russia, accusing them of attempting to interfere in the 2024 U.S. election.

The year 2024 has been a year of monumental change for the Middle East, filled with challenges but also signs of renewal. With terrorist groups defeated, oppressive regimes toppled, and destabilizing forces weakened, the region stands on the precipice of transformative progress.