Mena Today

Spiralling travel and accommodation costs, French political tumult and security concerns are discouraging many sports fans and visitors from attending the Paris Olympic Games this summer.

Niger's junta has agreed to talks with Benin's government, led by two former Benin presidents, to help restore relations after a coup in Niger last year led to the border closing and a China-backed oil pipeline shutting down.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Russia's Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that Ankara could help end the Ukraine-Russia war, but Putin's spokesman said Erdogan could not play the role of an intermediary in the 28-month-old conflict.

In a significant move, Badr Abdelatty has been appointed as Egypt's new Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan convened in Kazakhstan, the leading economy of Central Asia, for a regional summit aimed at countering Western influence.

France expelled on Wednesday Bashir Biazar, an Iranian national suspected of being an "influence agent" for the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

Many Palestinians were seeking shelter on Wednesday after fleeing their homes in southern Gaza and complained of water shortages as Israel pressed on with its military offensive in the densely populated enclave.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday appointed former defence minister Mohamed Zaki as a presidential adviser for defence affairs.

NATO allies have agreed to fund military aid for Ukraine with 40 billion euros ($43 billion) next year, two Western European diplomats told Reuters on Wednesday, a week before the alliance's leaders are set to meet in Washington.

A senior field commander in Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli strike on Wednesday outside of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, two security sources told Reuters.

Yemen's Houthis are sending drone boats packed with explosives into the Red Sea as they intensify their attacks on merchant ships that have little defence against the "sophisticated shift" in tactic, maritime security sources say.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi swore in a reshuffled cabinet on Wednesday that includes new finance and foreign ministers in a government facing challenges including the Gaza war on its border, economic woes and persistent power cuts.