Mena Today

The U.S. military said on Monday operations against Islamic State in Iraq over the past week led to the death of a non-U.S. coalition soldier and wounded two other non-U.S. personnel.

The United States has sent 11 Yemeni detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention center to Oman, the Pentagon said on Monday, in a major resettlement that slashes the prisoner population to just 15 people.

Monday saw the end of the 48-hour Chrono Stage with some of the top contenders thriving over the strength-sapping two days, while others fell by the wayside. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday that eradication of the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria was "imminent", and that Ankara would not agree to any policy that allowed the YPG to maintain a presence there.

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.