Mena Today

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.

Swedish police said on Friday they have apprehended three men near the Israeli embassy in Stockholm on suspicion of preparing to commit violent crime, but said it was too early to say whether the diplomatic mission had been a target.

The United Nations Security Council will vote on Friday to call on Rwanda's military to stop supporting the M23 rebel group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and immediately withdraw all troops from Congolese territory "without preconditions."

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani has received an invitation to visit Iraq with the date to be determined later after consultations on the agenda, Syria's state news agency SANA said on Friday.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi left Riyadh after participating in an informal meeting on Friday to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with Gulf Arab states and Jordan, the presidency said in a statement on Facebook.

Syria's new President Ahmed al-Sharaa met China's ambassador to Damascus in the first public engagement between the two countries since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December, Syrian state media said on Friday.

The Forum of Families of Hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7, 2023, expressed shock and grief on Friday following an Israeli military announcement confirming that two young brothers, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, had been murdered by terrorists with their bare hands.

Russia could agree to using $300 billion of sovereign assets frozen in Europe for reconstruction in Ukraine but will insist that part of the money is spent on the one-fifth of the country that Moscow's forces control, three sources told Reuters.

Arab states who were swift to reject President Donald Trump's plan for the U.S. to take control of Gaza and resettle its Palestinians are scrambling to agree on a diplomatic offensive to counter the idea, five sources told Reuters.

Egypt’s Central Bank (CBE) has opted to keep interest rates unchanged for the seventh consecutive time, signaling a cautious approach to monetary policy as inflation risks persist.