Mena Today

An Iranian airliner was refused permission to land at the Beirut airport on Saturday and returned to Iran. 

The United Arab Emirates is strengthening its relationship with the United States, the Gulf state's foreign minister said on Friday, a sign of warmer relations after several friction points during the Biden presidency.

The death of Hassan Nasrallah and the decimation of his senior command mark a critical juncture in the Middle East. Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group backed by Iran since 1982, paid a heavy price for its reckless decision to attack Israel nearly a year ago in a show of support for Gaza. 

The Israeli military said on Saturday it had killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike on the group's central headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut a day earlier.

Killing or incapacitating Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah would deal a significant blow to the Iran-backed Lebanese group he has led for 32 years, analysts said on Friday after reports Israel targeted him with a strike.

Jordan's foreign minister said on Friday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to be stopped because he was driving the region to a full-fledged war.

Hezbollah's head Hassan Nasrallah was unreachable following Israel's strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday evening, a source close to the Lebanese armed group told Reuters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue Israel's attacks on Iranian-backed fighters in Lebanon in a closely watched United Nations speech on Friday as hopes faded for a ceasefire that could head off an all-out regional war.

The U.S. government said on Friday it filed criminal charges against three members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for hacking attempts aimed at disrupting the U.S. presidential election.

The South Caucasus country of Georgia holds a parliamentary election on Oct. 26 that pits a government seen as leaning increasingly towards Russia against an opposition that champions integration with the West.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams pleaded not guilty on Friday to federal charges of accepting bribes and illegal campaign contributions from Turkish nationals, as the Democrat resists mounting calls from within his own party to resign.

Tunisia's parliament was set to vote on a major amendment to the electoral law on Friday, nine days before a presidential election that opposition groups fear will cement President Kais Saied's authoritarian rule.