BBC News Middle East

Primary and secondary schools in Tunisia are to close for 12 days as part of new measures against coronavirus.

A huge surge of infections over the past month has seen cases increase by more than 1,000 per day.

Close to 1,000 people have died since the virus hit Tunisia in March - and most of those deaths have been in the past two months alone.

The Tunisian government still appears to be trying to avoid another lockdown in the country but the latest measures are edging closer to the restrictions imposed back in March.

At present:

• Inter-city travel is banned
• Public gatherings limited to a maximum of four people
• Nationwide weekday curfew from 20:00 to 05:00
• Nationwide weekend curfew hours are 19:00 to 05:00
• Restaurants and cafes to close at 16:00
• Nurseries and kindergartens however remain open

Earlier this week Tunisia’s health officials said that in parts of the country, hospitals treating Covid-19 patients had reached full capacity.

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Algeria's President Abdelmajid Tebboune has been transferred to Germany for what state TV says are "medical check-ups".

Mr Tebboune had been admitted to hospital in Algeria on Tuesday.

The nature of his condition has not been revealed, but there has been speculation that he's been infected by coronavirus.

On Saturday, Mr Tebboune went into five days of voluntary self-isolation at the advice of his doctors after many of his aides and government figures tested positive for Covid-19.

Mr Tebboune's hospitalisation has come just days before a referendum on proposed changes to Algeria's constitution, which the president very much wants to see approved.

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Another 12 bodies have been found in unmarked graves in the Libyan city of Tarhuna, adding to the dozens of corpses already discovered there.

Before it was captured in June by government forces, the area was held by fighters allied to the eastern-based commander, Gen Khalifa Haftar.

After the city was overrun, a number of bodies were discovered in a hospital, and many more were unearthed at grave sites.

Marks on some showed that they had been subjected to violence.

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The president of Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, has been admitted to a military hospital in the capital just days before the country is due to vote in an important constitutional referendum.

On Saturday, Mr Tebboune went into five days of voluntary self -isolation at the advice of his doctors after many of his aides and government figures tested positive for coronavirus.

Mr Tebboune's office said that he was in a stable condition in a specialist unit, and that he was continuing to do his work.

Algerians will be voting in Sunday's referendum on an amendment to the constitution that limits presidential terms and gives more powers to the parliament and judiciary.

The United Nation’s Mission to Libya has announced the start of political talks which are expected to pave the way for elections.

The virtual meetings for what will be called the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum will bring together 75 participants from across the country’s regions, including ethnic, political, and tribal representatives.

There will be two stages in the political dialogue, which is being mediated by the UN mission.

The virtual meetings which start on Monday will lead to face-to-face talks due to be held in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, on 9 November.

The aim, according to the UN, is to build a consensus around what a new unified Libyan government will look like, and to pave the way for elections to be held as soon as possible.

In a statement, the UN’s political mission also said it hoped Libyan Prime Minister Fayez El Sarraj would remain in power until the dialogue forum decides the way forward.

Last month, the Libyan prime minister said he would “hand-over” power to his replacement by the end of October at the latest.

This plan now seems unlikely to materialise given the timeline of the political negotiations.

The negotiations come after a "permanent" ceasefire deal was signed in Geneva on Friday between Libya’s military rivals.