Mena Today

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Sunday sent a message of congratulations to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the occasion of Ukraine’s Independence Day, underscoring Abu Dhabi’s careful diplomatic balancing act between Kyiv and Moscow.

Egypt will host the inaugural AI Everything Middle East & Africa summit and exhibition from February 10–12, 2026, highlighting practical applications of artificial intelligence across critical sectors.

Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz on Saturday urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and fellow opposition heads Yair Lapid and Avigdor Lieberman to form a temporary government excluding the far right, with the goal of securing the release of hostages held in Gaza.

Russian troops have taken control of two more settlements along the 1,000-km (620-mile) front line in Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, Russia's Defence Ministry said on Saturday.

Iranian security forces shot dead six militants in a clash in southeastern Iran on Saturday, a day after five police officers were killed by armed rebels in the restive region, the official news agency IRNA reported.

Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan has written to U.S. President Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump, and urged her to contact Israel's prime minister and raise the plight of children in Gaza, authorities in Ankara said on Saturday.

Syria's first parliamentary election under its new Islamist administration, scheduled for September, will not include the southern province of Sweida and two other provinces because of security concerns, the electoral commission said on Saturday.

The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, accused Souheil Bahij Harb, head of military intelligence in southern Lebanon, of cooperating with Hezbollah to cover up the killing of Irish UN peacekeeper Sean Rooney in Aaqibiyé.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and his French, British and German counterparts agreed on Friday to resume talks next week on nuclear issues, Iranian state media reported, as a threat by the European powers to reimpose sanctions looms.

The Trump administration on Thursday issued more Iran-related sanctions, targeting 13 entities based in Hong Kong, China, the United Arab Emirates and the Marshall Islands, as well as eight vessels, the U.S. Treasury Department said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel will begin immediate negotiations for the release of all hostages held in Gaza and an end to the nearly two-year-old war on terms acceptable to Israel.

Vladimir Putin is demanding that Ukraine give up all of the eastern Donbas region, renounce ambitions to join NATO, remain neutral and keep Western troops out of the country, three sources familiar with top-level Kremlin thinking told Reuters.