Mena Today

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has declared that the ongoing persecution of the Baha'i minority by Iranian authorities since the 1979 Islamic Revolution amounts to a "crime against humanity".

Israeli warplanes struck the Iranian consulate in Damascus on Monday, and a Lebanese security source told Reuters a senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, had been killed in the attack.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is set to be sworn in for his third consecutive term in a ceremony taking place in the New Administrative Capital being constructed on the outskirts of Cairo.

Former Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou left on Monday for an 11-day trip to China where he is expected next week to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping for the second time, amid simmering tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

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.