Mena Today

 Ilker Yazici - stage name Miss Putka - was in secondary school when he discovered he was gay.

European shipping firms Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are unlikely to get a big boost from soaring freight rates due to the Red Sea crisis in the first quarter, reinforcing worries about overcapacity in the long run.

The United States, Britain and the European Union are pressing the United Arab Emirates to show it is cracking down on firms evading sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine, according to three sources aware of the diplomatic outreach.

Amnesty International called on Saudi Arabia to free a 29-year-old fitness instructor it says has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for her choice of clothing and social media posts urging an end to the kingdom's male guardianship system.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday he has still not seen a plan for Israel's planned offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah that would protect civilians, repeating that Washington could not support such an assault.

Turkish police detained 217 people on Wednesday, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said, after tear gas and rubber bullets were used to stop the protesters reaching Taksim Square, the traditional focal point of May Day rallies in Istanbul.

Saudi Arabia has been grappling with severe weather conditions this week as persistent heavy rains have caused flash floods.

France's foreign minister will travel to Cairo on Wednesday in an unscheduled stop during a Middle East tour as efforts to secure a truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza reach a critical point, a French diplomatic source said.

United Airlines on Wednesday extended the cancellation of its daily flight from Newark, New Jersey to Tel Aviv in Israel up to May 9, saying it was completing a safety assessment.

Hamas is the only obstacle to an immediate ceasefire and relief for civilians in Gaza.

Air France KLM said on Tuesday that weak demand for leisure travel to Egypt and Jordan since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel had forced the group to redeploy a big portion of that capacity to North Africa.

Georgia's parliament was set on Tuesday to debate the second reading of a bill on "foreign agents" which has been described as authoritarian and Russian-inspired by Georgia's opposition and Western countries.