Mena Today

A rebel group controlling Sudan's Nuba Mountains and parts of Blue Nile state said on Wednesday that the local population was experiencing a hunger catastrophe.

U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein said on Wednesday he believed all-out war between Israel and Lebanon's powerful militant group Hezbollah could be avoided but that Israel and Hamas needed to move towards a peace agreement for Gaza without further delay.

Two crude oil tanker ships reported coming under attack in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen on Tuesday, although neither reported damage, maritime security agencies said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told visiting Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday that Moscow was pained by the plight of his people and backed their aspiration to create a fully fledged state.

At least 68 people have been killed during a heavier than usual rainy season in Sudan this year, the interior ministry said on Tuesday, as shelters collapsed and neighbourhoods flooded, piling further misery on the war-torn country.

A 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck the city of Hama in western Syria late on Monday, with residents across Syria, Jordan and Lebanon feeling the impact and tremors lasting into Tuesday morning.

Israeli hardliner Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Tuesday Jews should be permitted to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as Temple Mount, launching a fresh challenge to rules covering one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East.

The United States is asking Turkey and other allies that have ties with Iran to persuade it to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey said.

More than two weeks after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claimed reelection victory, the U.S. and other Western countries are showing little sign that they plan to quickly impose tough measures for what many of them have condemned as voting fraud.

A Turkish court on Monday ordered the arrest of a woman on charges of inciting hatred and insulting the president after she criticised a ban on social media platform Instagram, broadcaster Haberturk and other media said.

Credit ratings agency Fitch downgraded Israel's credit rating to "A" from "A-plus" on Monday, citing worsening geopolitical risks as the war in Gaza drags on, and kept the rating outlook negative, meaning a further downgrade is possible.

Late Monday night, just minutes before midnight, a seismic tremor was felt across Beirut and the surrounding areas.