Iran is facing a severe drought, and there is growing public anger over water and power shortages.
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One killed in Iran water crisis protests
Iran is facing a severe drought, and there is growing public anger over water and power shortages.
Top Stories

One killed in Iran water crisis protests
Iran is facing a severe drought, and there is growing public anger over water and power shortages.

Belgium takes back mothers and children from Syria
It is the biggest repatriation of suspected Islamic State members since its fall in 2019.

Lebanon crisis deepens as PM-designate quits
Saad Hariri says he cannot agree a cabinet line-up with the president, after months of deadlock.

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.
Featured Contents

One killed in Iran water crisis protests
Iran is facing a severe drought, and there is growing public anger over water and power shortages.

Belgium takes back mothers and children from Syria
It is the biggest repatriation of suspected Islamic State members since its fall in 2019.

Lebanon crisis deepens as PM-designate quits
Saad Hariri says he cannot agree a cabinet line-up with the president, after months of deadlock.

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.

Belgium takes back mothers and children from Syria
It is the biggest repatriation of suspected Islamic State members since its fall in 2019.

Lebanon crisis deepens as PM-designate quits
Saad Hariri says he cannot agree a cabinet line-up with the president, after months of deadlock.

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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Jobs protest in Algeria's oil-rich region

Ahmed Rouaba
BBC News
Protesters in Algeria's oil-rich southern province of Ouargla have blocked roads and burnt tyres in the main city to demand jobs and development in the region.
Ouargla hosts 71% of the country’s oil reserves.
But the local population feel their region does not receive a fair share of development and public services compared to the northern parts of the country.
The protesters say state-owned oil company Sonatrach - the biggest employer in the south - hires most of its staff, including unskilled workers, from the north.
It is also estimated that poverty in the southern parts of Algeria is twice as high as the northern region.
Young and divorced in Egypt - 'I don't know you anymore'
The Comb podcast
Copyright: Getty ImagesLooking back, Baheyya says she was a different person when she got married.
At 22 she had fallen in love while at university in Egypt, and as a devout Muslim she believed that marriage was the only proper way to continue her relationship.
Although marriage wouldn’t have been her first choice at that point, she remembers her relationship as a true love story, and for the first couple of years she was happy as a wife.
But then things changed. Baheyya struggled with the pressures of motherhood, and as the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 opened up conversations in society, she started questioning some of her assumptions about what she could and should expect from life.
"I became a bit more liberal when it came to my spiritual beliefs [and] my political views. And he was still very conservative on both matters."
The relationship changed as Baheyya and her husband grew further apart, fighting not just about everyday issues, but big questions about life.
"I remember that he looked at me, he gave me a look and he said 'I’m not really sure I know you anymore'."
Eventually, the couple agreed that separating was the best way forward for them, joining the growing number of Egyptians who choose to get divorced.
A generation ago, in conservative societies in particular, women didn’t have the same freedom to end a marriage that men did. In cases where a marriage turned bad, wives were simply expected to endure it. Even now, Baheyya says she was lucky to have the financial independence that made divorcing possible for her.
A 2018 study found that one fifth of marriages in Egypt end in divorce each year. To some, this is a concerning trend, but to others - like Baheyya - it’s a sign of freedom.
- For more, listen to the latest edition of The Comb
'Til Kingdom Come: Trump, Faith and Money
Video content
Video caption: Documentary about an unusual philanthropic relationship that links Kentucky with Israel. Documentary about the close ties between a group of pastors in Kentucky and Israel's foremost philanthropic organisation that sheds light on US foreign policy in the Middle East during the Trump era.
Video content
Video caption: Welsh woman reunited with family after Kuwait prison release Sara Assayed returns home after being cleared of drug charges in Kuwait.
Celebrity dentist sentenced to 16 years in Egypt

BBC World Service
A celebrity dentist in Egypt has been sentenced to 16 years in prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting four men.
The accusations against Dr Bassem Samir first appeared on social media last year when an Egyptian actor made public his account of being assaulted.
Another man made similar accusations a month later in an online video.
Dr Samir was a well-known figure in Egypt, with big billboards advertising his clinic in the capital, Cairo.
By Richard Morris
Political reporter, BBC News
Jailed Algerian protesters pardoned for Eid

Ahmed Rouaba
BBC News
Copyright: AFPImage caption: Protesters have been demanding radical political change in Algeria for the last three years Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Tebboune has issued a pardon to 101 people jailed on charges related to widespread political protests.
They will released in time to celebrate next week’s Muslim festival Eid ul-Adha.
A popular protest movement - known as the Hirak - was formed in 2019 calling for radical political change in the North African nation.
It brought to an end the long-time rule of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika two years ago, but has continued staging marches in major cities across the country demanding more reforms.
Dozens of Hirak members have been prosecuted and jailed, according to human rights groups.
Earlier this week, President Tebboune issued an Eid pardon for dozens of students jailed for cheating in the national exam for school leavers.
US 'concerned' over human rights situation in Egypt

BBC World Service
Copyright: AFPImage caption: The US has named rights activist Hossam Bahgat as an example of those who had been wrongly targeted The United States says it is concerned by the worsening human rights situation in Egypt.
A State Department spokesman, Ned Price, referred to the detention and harassment of NGO leaders, academics and journalists.
"The United States will stand with brave human rights defenders, journalists and advocates around the world. We believe all people should be allowed to express their political views freely, to assemble and associate peacefully," he said.
He named Hossam Bahgat, the executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, as an example of those who had been wrongly targeted.
Mr Bahgat faces trial for insulting the Egyptian election commission in a tweet.
Europe's role in Libya migrant horror condemned

BBC World Service
Copyright: AFPImage caption: Thousands of people risk the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean each year Rights group Amnesty International has condemned what it called the complicity of European states in horrific abuses suffered by migrants intercepted at sea and forcibly returned to Libya.
A report by the group suggests that conditions in Libyan detention centres are worsening and migrants are subjected to torture, forced labour, sexual violence, and extortion.
Amnesty urged European countries to suspend cooperation on migration and border control with Libya.
United Nations figures say the Libyan coastguard returned more than 13,000 people to Libya in the first six months of this year.
By Wael Hussein
BBC News, Cairo
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Video caption: Masih Alinejad: I got furious instead of just being scared The New York-based Iranian-American journalist tells of learning she was targeted for abduction.































