Mena Today

Saudi Arabia is discussing a defence deal with the United States which it hopes to seal when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits the White House next month, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may have publicly maintained a harsh tone against Israel since the October 7, 2023, attacks, but signs on the ground suggest a shift is underway. 

Hamas called on mediators on Friday to push for the next steps under the ceasefire in Gaza, including reopening the border, letting in aid, beginning reconstruction, setting up an administration and completing Israel's withdrawal.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he expected an expansion of the Abraham Accords soon and hopes Saudi Arabia will join the pact that normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and some Arab states.

Britain's media regulator Ofcom said a BBC documentary about children's lives in Gaza narrated by the 13-year-old son of a deputy agriculture minister in the Hamas-run government broke broadcasting rules.

A ceasefire in Gaza is raising hopes among many in Israel that the country can begin to repair its image abroad, after months of deepening isolation due to the toll of the two-year conflict.

Alassane Ouattara's long path to becoming Ivory Coast president included two elections in which he was disqualified from running and a brief but brutal 2010-11 civil war spurred by his predecessor's refusal to leave office.

The European Union unveiled a new strategy on Thursday aimed at revitalizing and strengthening its relations with countries in the southern Mediterranean, including Lebanon and North African nations such as Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, and Syria.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary, to discuss ending the war in Ukraine after a productive conversation on Thursday.

France and Britain, in coordination with the United States, are working to finalise a U.N. Security Council resolution in the coming days that would lay the foundation for a future international force in Gaza, France said on Thursday.

King Abdullah II of Jordan began an official visit to Hungary on Thursday, where he held high-level meetings with President Tamás Sulyok, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and members of the Hungarian Parliament.

Israel said on Thursday it was preparing for the reopening of Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt to let Palestinians in and out, but set no date as it traded blame with Hamas over violations of a U.S.-mediated ceasefire.