Mena Today

Iran said on Monday it hopes for the imminent release of a French couple held in Tehran since 2022, in connection with the potential freeing of an Iranian woman detained in France.

Syria on Monday published preliminary results of its indirect vote for the first parliament since Bashar al-Assad's historic toppling last year, with election officials acknowledging a low success rate for women and religious minorities.

The United Nations' cultural agency selected former Egyptian tourism and antiquities minister Khaled El-Enany as its new chief on Monday, handing him the keys to revive UNESCO's fortunes after the U.S. withdrew from it for a second time.

Delegations from Israel and Hamas began indirect negotiations in Egypt on Monday that the U.S. hopes will bring a halt to the war in Gaza, facing contentious issues such as demands that Israel pull out of the enclave and Hamas to disarm.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Monday that the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's plans to halt the war in Gaza must be achieved by the start of next week at the latest but added that all the other issues would need time.

The European Union intends to play an active role in the peace initiative proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump for Gaza and hopes to be part of the international transitional body envisioned in the plan, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday during a visit to Kuwait.

What’s going on at Al Jazeera? If you go onto its website, you’ll see relatively mild news items, as opposed to the incitement that is usually prominent on the Qatari propaganda network. 

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot went to bed celebrating his political survival. After all, he had just been reconfirmed in his post following the latest reshuffle in President Macron’s ever-spinning carousel of ministers.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday praised U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, as Israeli and Hamas representatives prepared to begin indirect negotiations in Egypt aimed at securing a hostage-prisoner exchange and achieving a ceasefire.

Nine Swiss activists from the self-styled “Gaza humanitarian flotilla” returned home Sunday to Geneva — not with humility or gratitude for their safe release, but with a fresh set of accusations against Israel.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday tasked his outgoing prime minister, who had resigned earlier in the day, to hold last-ditch talks with other political parties to try to chart a path out of the crisis.

Hamas officials were in Egypt on Monday ahead of talks with Israel that the U.S. hopes will lead to a halt in fighting and the freeing of hostages in Gaza.