Mena Today

Iran’s leadership and allies are bracing for what they would regard as a dreadful outcome of the imminent U.S. presidential election: A return to power of Donald Trump.

A Moroccan human rights activist will go on trial charged with spreading fake news, offending institutions and false reporting after accusing the kingdom of using migration and espionage to pressure France, a Casablanca prosecutor said on Friday.

Private equity giant Carlyle Group has sold its majority holdings in Tunisia-focused oil and gas producer Mazarine Energy to the company's CEO Edward van Kersbergen, Mazarine said on Thursday.

As Lebanon finds itself under growing pressure to address the conflict in the south, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berry has made clear his stance: only UN Resolution 1701, which calls for a ceasefire, will be considered to end hostilities. 

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, in a Moscow meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, accused the United States and South Korea of plotting a nuclear strike against her country.

Four Thai nationals were killed and one was injured by rocket fire near the town of Metula, close to the border between Lebanon and Israel, Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa posted on the social media platform X on Friday.

Russia is "surprised" that Turkey continues to supply Ukraine with weapons while trying to act as a mediator in the conflict between the two countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Hurriyet newspaper.

Israel pounded Beirut's southern suburbs with a series of powerful airstrikes early on Friday morning after issuing evacuation orders to residents, in the first such strikes in days targeting the dense urban area, Reuters witnesses said.

Iraq's parliament elected on Thursday Sunni lawmaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani as its speaker, lawmakers said, breaking a nearly year-long deadlock over the position that had remained vacant due to protracted disagreements among political factions.

Israeli intelligence suggests Iran is preparing to attack Israel from Iraqi territory in the coming days, possibly before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5, Axios reported on Thursday, citing two unidentified Israeli sources.

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has signed five Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with Japanese financial institutions worth up to an overall $51 billion, it said on Thursday.