Mena Today

President Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Monday to correct any mistakes that led to his party's defeat in Turkey's local elections where the opposition capitalised on economic woes and alienated Islamist voters, casting uncertainty over his reform plans.

The Israeli Parliament passed a law on Monday that allows for the banning of foreign media broadcasts in Israel, which are deemed harmful to the state's security.

Israeli high-tech startups are still raising funds despite the country's war with Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, although at a slightly slower pace, Startup Nation Central (SNC) said in a report.

Turkey's local elections on Sunday were competitive and gave citizens many options but took place in a "starkly polarised environment" where more needs to be done to ensure freedom of expression, a European group of observers said on Monday.

Newly re-elected Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has emerged as the main challenger to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's reign. But in some ways, he is following in the footsteps of the Turkish leader who ran the city in the 1990s. 

Iran tipped off Russia about the possibility of a major "terrorist operation" on its soil ahead of the concert hall massacre near Moscow last month, three sources familiar with the matter said.

For the first time, Hamas has issued an apology to the residents of Gaza for the hardships caused by the ongoing war with the Israeli military, lasting nearly six months.

The residence of Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah was targeted with rocket-propelled grenades on Sunday in an attack that left no casualties, a Libyan minister told Reuters.

Turks dealt President Tayyip Erdogan and his party their biggest electoral blow on Sunday in a nationwide local vote that reasserted the opposition as a political force and reinforced Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as the president's chief rival.

Israel's Red Sea port city of Eilat came under an aerial attack on Monday that caused no casualties, the military said, and an Iranian-backed armed group in Iraq issued a claim of responsibility.

The Islamist group Hamas accused rivals with the Palestinian Authority of sending security officers into northern Gaza under cover of securing aid trucks, the Gaza Hamas-run interior ministry said.

In a recent statement, French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné issued a stark warning about the potential for a "large-scale confrontation" between Israel and Hezbollah.