Mena Today

Russia is ready to expand military and technical cooperation with Iran, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told his Iranian counterpart Gharaei Ashtiani.

An Egyptian delegation met Israeli officials on Friday, looking for a way to restart talks to end the war in Gaza and return the remaining Israeli hostages, an official briefed on the meetings said.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday protests at U.S. universities over U.S.-ally Israel's war in Gaza are a hallmark of American democracy, but criticized what he called the "silence" about Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The vast amount of rubble including unexploded ordnance left by Israel's devastating war in the Gaza Strip could take about 14 years to remove, a United Nations official said on Friday.

A Turkish court sentenced Ahlam Albashir, a Syrian national, to life in prison on Friday over a 2022 bombing that killed six people in Istanbul's main shopping street, a copy of the verdict obtained by Reuters showed.

One anti-ship ballistic missile was launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen into the Gulf of Aden on Thursday, with no injuries or damage reported by U.S, coalition, or commercial ships, U.S Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Friday.

Qatari television station Al-Jazeera reported that the Freedom Flotilla from Turkey to the Gaza Strip was delayed for several days due to port procedures in Istanbul. 

Egypt has asked for a follow-up meeting with Israel in renewed efforts to mediate a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip, two Egyptian security sources said on Thursday.

The U.S. military has started constructing a maritime pier that will allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, the Pentagon said on Thursday, a move that had been expected, with the jetty set to become operational by early May.

Haiti's transition council took power in a ceremony on Thursday, formalizing the resignation of former Prime Minster Ariel Henry as the Caribbean country seeks to establish security after years of gang violence wreaking chaos and misery.

The General Directorate of Civil Aviation announced that an Ethiopian Airlines plane, registered in Ethiopia, landed early Thursday morning at Beirut International Airport and the airport security apparatus reported the presence of the phrase "Tel Aviv" in small letters on the plane's body, "which was very difficult to see from a distance," the directorate said in a statement. 

World soccer governing body FIFA has signed a partnership with oil and gas conglomerate Saudi Aramco that will run through to the end of 2027, it said in a statement on Thursday.