Mena Today

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi offered his congratulations on Friday to Ahmed Al-Shara, following his recent appointment as Syria’s interim president.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to meet twice in Washington on Tuesday, once for a work meeting and then for an informal dinner, Axios reported on Friday.

Syrian authorities have arrested a former senior security officer and cousin of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad credited by some with sparking the country's 2011 uprising due to a crackdown on protests in the southern city of Daraa, state media said.

Tehran-Paris flight scheduled for Friday, the only direct connection between Iran and a European capital, has been unilaterally canceled by France, according to Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Farzaneh Sadegh.

An official with Meta's popular WhatsApp chat service said Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions had targeted scores of its users, including journalists and members of civil society.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a leading opposition figure and potential challenger to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, appeared in court on Friday to deny charges that he had attempted to influence the judiciary.

Palestinian terrorist group Hamas said on Friday it would free the father of the youngest hostages seized in its Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel and two others including a dual U.S. citizen in the next exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

At the request of French law enforcement, Tel Aviv police have detained four French immigrants suspected of defrauding investors of over €3 million ($3.1 million). 

The European Union has restarted its civilian mission to monitor the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt at Rafah, a key entry and exit point for the Palestinian territory, the bloc's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Friday.

Britain, France and Germany on Friday reiterated their "grave concern" over Israel implementing a law forbidding any contact between its officials and UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA.

The Israeli military said on Friday it struck several Hezbollah targets overnight in the Bekaa Valley and along the Syrian-Lebanese border.

Germany has officially expressed its support for Khaled El-Enany’s candidacy for the position of Director-General of UNESCO, reinforcing the growing international momentum behind his bid.