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Nearly all Egyptian woman say they have faced harassment. Inspired by #MeToo, some are speaking out.
BBC News Middle East
US accuses Iranians of plotting to kidnap exiles
New York-based Iranian-born journalist Masih Alinejad says she was targeted for abduction.
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US accuses Iranians of plotting to kidnap exiles
New York-based Iranian-born journalist Masih Alinejad says she was targeted for abduction.
Video 5 minutes 26 seconds
The Islamic State children facing life locked up
A BBC investigation found that children, whose parents supported IS, are caught in a conveyor belt of incarceration.
Protests as Iraq hospital blaze kills at least 92
Angry relatives of the victims protest outside the devastated Covid isolation ward.
Iran unveils dating app to promote marriage
Authorities are concerned about the Islamic Republic's rising divorce rate and falling birth rate.
Iranian hackers posed as British-based academic
A group in Iran pretended to be a British-based academic and compromised a London university website.
Two convicted of plotting Jordan coup
The case came as a shock to the kingdom, for decades one of the region's more stable countries.
Lebanon plunged into darkness as power plants shut
Many in Lebanon are receiving just two hours of energy a day, as it grapples with an economic crisis.
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US accuses Iranians of plotting to kidnap exiles
New York-based Iranian-born journalist Masih Alinejad says she was targeted for abduction.
Video 5 minutes 26 seconds
The Islamic State children facing life locked up
A BBC investigation found that children, whose parents supported IS, are caught in a conveyor belt of incarceration.
Protests as Iraq hospital blaze kills at least 92
Angry relatives of the victims protest outside the devastated Covid isolation ward.
Iran unveils dating app to promote marriage
Authorities are concerned about the Islamic Republic's rising divorce rate and falling birth rate.
Iranian hackers posed as British-based academic
A group in Iran pretended to be a British-based academic and compromised a London university website.
Two convicted of plotting Jordan coup
The case came as a shock to the kingdom, for decades one of the region's more stable countries.
Lebanon plunged into darkness as power plants shut
Many in Lebanon are receiving just two hours of energy a day, as it grapples with an economic crisis.
Video 5 minutes 26 seconds
The Islamic State children facing life locked up
A BBC investigation found that children, whose parents supported IS, are caught in a conveyor belt of incarceration.
Protests as Iraq hospital blaze kills at least 92
Angry relatives of the victims protest outside the devastated Covid isolation ward.
Iran unveils dating app to promote marriage
Authorities are concerned about the Islamic Republic's rising divorce rate and falling birth rate.
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Video caption: #MeToo in Egypt: Women speak out about harassment Video content
Video caption: Islamic State children in Syria face a lifetime in prison A BBC investigation found that children, whose parents supported IS, are caught in a conveyor belt of incarceration.
By Frank Gardner
BBC security correspondent
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Video caption: The EU countries 'pushing back' asylum seekers at sea Human rights groups allege that thousands of people seeking asylum in Europe have been pushed back from Greece to Turkey before being given a chance to apply for asylum.
Dozens of exam cheats pardoned in Algeria
Ahmed Rouaba
BBC News
Copyright: AFPImage caption: It means they will be able to spend Eid with their families next week Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has issued a pardon for dozens of youths who had been jailed for cheating in the national Baccalaureate exams for school leavers.
His decision comes a week before the Muslim festival Eid al-Adha.
More than 60 people had been prosecuted in various parts of the country and imprisoned.
The pardoned youth will be released in time to celebrate Eid with their families.
Algeria to produce Russian and Chinese vaccines
Ahmed Rouaba
BBC News
Copyright: ReutersImage caption: A minister says 2.5 million doses will be made locally per month Algeria is set to start producing coronavirus jabs from September, a cabinet minister has announced on state radio.
"In addition to the Russian vaccine Sputnik, we will be producing the Chinese Sinovac as well," Lotfi Benbahmed told National Radio Algeria.
Chinese technicians would arrive in Algeria by the end of this month to "prepare the arrival of raw materials" and "the production of the vaccines would start in September", he said.
The state-owned pharmaceutical company Saidal will be producing 2.5 million doses of both vaccines a month, according to the minister.
These locally made vaccines would be 45% cheaper than imports and 90% cheaper once the raw materials were produced in Algeria, Mr Benbahmed said. Per dose it was a saving of at least $5 (£3.60), he added.
Sinovac has also agreed to supply Algeria - which has a population of 45 million - with 15 million imported doses of its vaccines by the end of the year.
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Famous canal-blocking ship leaves Egyptian waters
Alan Johnston
BBC Middle East analyst
Copyright: SATELLITE IMAGE ©2021 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIESImage caption: The vessel hit the headlines back in March for this blunder The ship that was the focus of worldwide attention when it blocked the Suez Canal has finally left Egyptian waters.
The vessel - called Ever Given - was detained in the area during protracted negotiations in which the canal authorities were demanding compensation.
These were concluded last Wednesday, after an undisclosed sum was agreed.
The Ever Given has now resumed her journey, more than 100 days after she became wedged in the busy canal - blocking it for nearly a week and disrupting global trade.
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By Gordon Corera
Security correspondent
Video content
Video caption: Iraqi firefighters tackle blaze in Covid ward More than 50 people have died after a fire broke out in a coronavirus isolation ward at a hospital in Iraq.
By Sean Coughlan
Family and education correspondent
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Video caption: Family's anger as innocent daughter held in Kuwait prison Egypt to sack officials suspected of links with banned groups
BBC World Service
The Egyptian parliament has approved legal amendments that enhance the government's power to sack civil servants suspected of having links with militants, reports say.
The amendments are said to allow for the immediate firing of any employee whose name appears on a terrorism list.
This includes suspects still under investigation or on trial.
State media has described the amendments as a step forward in a campaign to purify government bodies of the Muslim Brotherhood organisation - which is classified as terrorist group.
Tunisia calls for diaspora help amid Covid surge
Ahmed Rouaba
BBC News
Copyright: AFPImage caption: A medic attends to a coronavirus patient at the hospital Tunisia's government has appealed for help from citizens abroad after the authorities declared the country’s health system had "collapsed", amid a rapid surge of the Delta variant which has led to increase in hospitalisation.
"Donate money, medical and paramedical equipment," the Tunisian embassy in France said in a post on Facebook.
A spokesperson for the Tunisian ministry of health described the situation in hospitals as "catastrophic" - with an acute shortage of hospital beds and oxygen, as well as exhausted medical staff.
The army has been deployed to enforce a new lockdown in some parts of the country that has vaccinated only 12% of its population.
Tunisians based in Canada gathered last week in front of the parliament in Ottawa to urge the government to send coronavirus vaccines to Tunisia.
By Rhiannon Wilkins
BBC News
Egypt MPs approve tough penalties for sex crimes
BBC World Service
Copyright: AFPImage caption: Most Egyptian women experience sexual harassment at least once in their lives Egypt's parliament has approved a draft law that will impose tougher penalties for sexual crimes, in a move welcomed by female politicians as "a leap forward".
The bill makes sexual assault a criminal offence, as opposed to a misdemeanour, carrying a potential prison sentence of seven years where a weapon is used, or multiple attackers are involved.
The minimum jail term would also be increased to 18 months.
It follows a move last year to encourage women to report sexual harassment and assault by giving them an automatic right to anonymity.
Incidents of gender-based violence rose significantly last year in Egypt, particularly in major cities, with NGOs reporting more than 400 rapes and an escalation of domestic violence.
Research shows that most Egyptian women experience sexual harassment at least once in their lives.
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