Mena Today

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Wednesday, after pressing Israel's leaders to offer a pathway to a Palestinian state.

Iraq wants a quick and orderly negotiated exit of U.S-led military forces from its soil but has not set a deadline, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said, describing their presence as destabilising amid regional spillover from the Gaza war.

Countries making up over 60% of the world's economic output and more than half of its population hold elections this year.

The head of Egyptian intelligence Abbas Kamel initiated contacts with the leadership of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad regarding a prisoner exchange deal with Israel, Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar reported Wednesday.

Australian-born Mary Donaldson, who will become Queen of Denmark on Sunday when her husband, Crown Prince Frederik, ascends the throne, has been recognised as one of the world’s most sophisticated and well-dressed people.

U.S. and UK forces shot down 21 drones and missiles fired by Yemen-based Houthis on Tuesday into the Southern Red Sea towards international shipping lanes, the U.S. military's Central Command said.

Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, inaugurated, on Wednesday, a project to revive the old town of Al Hira in the city of Sharjah.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati told a senior United Nations official on Tuesday that his country was ready for talks on long-term stability on its southern border with Israel.

Major stock markets in the Gulf diverged on Tuesday as investors awaited U.S. inflation data for clues on the timing of interest rate cuts.

Sebastien Loeb took stage four of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as home favourite Yazeed Al Rajhi stretched his overall lead in the car category.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French President Emmanuel Macron and key Middle East leaders are slated to attend next week's World Economic Forum, putting talks to end wars in Gaza and Ukraine at the top of the agenda for the global elite.

Israel must make "hard choices" if it wants to normalize relations with more of its neighbors and should support Palestinian leaders who are willing to live side-by-side with Israelis, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday in Tel Aviv.