Mena Today

Former Lebanese minister and leader of the Tawhid Party, Wi’am Wahhab, sparked controversy on Sunday evening by calling for normalization with Israel. 

One of the four Romanian parties due to join a coalition government demanded clarity over taxation and spending plans on Monday, hampering the talks as the country races to stem the political chaos after the presidential election was annulled.

Syria's Bashar al-Assad said on Monday he was evacuated to Russia from the Hmeimim base in Syria on the evening of Dec. 8 as it came under drone attacks, after leaving Damascus that morning with opposition fighters closing in.

Authorities in Istanbul have reported the deaths of 37 people over the past six weeks due to the consumption of toxic, illegally-produced alcohol, according to an announcement made by the Istanbul Governor's Office on Monday.

The United Nations has reaffirmed its commitment to providing comprehensive assistance to the Syrian people, UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen said during a meeting in Damascus with Syrian rebel leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa and caretaker Prime Minister Mohammad al-Bashir. 

The Syrian Kurds, who control parts of the country's northeast, called on Monday for an end to all hostilities across Syria and extended an olive branch to the newly established authorities in Damascus.

Chechnya's Kremlin-backed leader Ramzan Kadyrov has said he is ready to step in if necessary and ensure that Syria gets the wheat it needs in what he said was the unlikely event that Russian wheat supplies to the country were disrupted.

Qatar will reopen its embassy in Syria on Tuesday after it was closed for more than 13 years, the Gulf country's foreign ministry said on Sunday, a week after Bashar al-Assad was removed from power.

France will send a team of diplomats to Syria on Tuesday to assess the political and security situation, the foreign ministry said, without specifying whom they would meet.

Israel agreed on Sunday to double its population on the occupied Golan Heights while saying threats from Syria remained despite the moderate tone of rebel leaders who ousted President Bashar al-Assad a week ago.

The United Nations will convene a technical committee of Libyan experts in an attempt to resolve contentious issues and put the country on the path to long-awaited national elections, the acting head of the U.N. mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said on Sunday.