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A court of appeal in Morocco has greatly increased the jail sentences given to three men for repeatedly raping an 11-year-old girl.

In a case that sparked public outrage, two weeks ago a lower court convicted the men of indecent assault, and sentenced them to between 18 months and two years in prison.

The appeals court in Rabat has now revised the sentences to 20 years in jail for the main defendant, and 10 years for the other two.

The court heard that the girl, who is now 12, gave birth to a baby last year, and a DNA test confirmed that one of the attackers was the father.

Press freedom in Algeria has been further restricted following a law passed by the country’s parliament.

The measure tightens media ownership rules and empowers courts to force journalists to reveal their sources.

Domestic media outlets will be banned from receiving overseas funding and dual-nationals prevented from owning press or broadcasting companies.

Algeria ranks 134 out of 180 countries in the latest Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index.

Read more on press issues in Algeria:

• Algeria jails journalist Ihsane el-Kadi as old guard asserts power

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Libyan security forces have arrested two American citizens for allegedly trying to convert Muslims there to Christianity.

Neither have been named by the authorities. Both are reported to have worked at the same private language school in the capital Tripoli.

One of the men is accused of working as a missionary for the Assemblies of God organisation - based in the US state of Arkansas.

Two Libyans were also arrested on similar charges. Islam is the state religion of Libya.

While Christians are free to worship there, attempting to convert Muslims to other faiths is banned.

Tunisian officials say 25 people are now known to have died after their boat was wrecked off the port city of Sfax on Wednesday.

Seventy-two of the 110 onboard were rescued. Several are missing.

All of them were from sub-Saharan Africa. Tunisia has taken over from Libya as the main departure point for people fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East.

The Tunisian National Guard says 14,000 migrants have been rescued in the first three months of this year – five times more than in the same period last year.

Syria is to reopen its diplomatic mission in Tunisia after more than a decade.

The decision follows an announcement by Tunisia’s President Kais Saied that his country would reopen its embassy in Damascus.

Syria’s relations with Arab states have recently improved. President Bashar al-Assad has visited both the United Arab Emirates and Oman and has held talks with Saudi Arabia.

Later this week nine Arab countries are due to meet in Riyadh to discuss moves to end Damascus’s isolation since the start of Syria’s long civil war.

Ten people trying to reach Europe have drowned off the coast of Tunisia after their boat was wrecked at sea.

Coastguards say 72 of those onboard - all of who were from sub-Saharan Africa - were rescued near the port city of Sfax.

Tunisia has taken over from Libya as the main departure point for people fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East.

The Tunisian National Guard says 14,000 migrants have been rescued in the first three months of this year - five times more than in the same period last year.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Marumo Gallants/TwitterCopyright: Marumo Gallants/Twitter

Two officials from a South African football club said they had feared for their lives when they were recently detained at a Libyan hotel for nearly three weeks over a payment dispute.

"When you see how Benghazi is - vandalised buildings, the army - you will get scared. We don’t see that often in South Africa," physiotherapist Tebogo Amos Dhlomo told journalists on Tuesday.

The pair had accompanied Marumo Gallants football club players for a continental cup clash against Al Akhdar SC in the city of Benghazi.

They were detained at the hotel after the match over outstanding payments, according to media reports in South Africa.

A club official is quoted as blaming difficulties with electronic payment systems that meant payments had to be made in cash, according to South Africa's News24 website.

Other reports indicated that the dispute was resolved after the intervention of the South African sports ministry.

Mr Dhlomo and media manager Rufus Matsena returned home on Sunday - only speaking of their ordeal later at a media briefing attended by government officials.

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A Tunisian football club has suspended its activities after 32 of its players emigrated to Europe.

The fourth-division Ghardimaou club's president, Jamil Meftahi, said his players had left either by sea or to Serbia before illegally crossing the border to other European countries.

Tunisians did not need a visa for Serbia until last November.

The club president said he could not pay the players - with Tunisia in the grip of an economic crisis.

The country is a major departure point for ships carrying migrants to Europe.

President Kais Saied has rejected a $1.9bn (£1.5bn) rescue package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) because it involves spending cuts.

Algeria's state energy conglomerate, Sonatrach, has announced that it has made six oil and gas discoveries in the first quarter of this year.

They have yielded more than 1.5 million cubic metres of gas as well as smaller amounts of oil.

Sonatrach made seven discoveries for the whole of last year.

It has announced it will produce 200 million tons of oil equivalent this year, an amount not achieved since 2010.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Police in Tunisia’s capital have forcefully removed homeless sub-Saharan Africans who had been camping outside UN buildings in Tunis for several weeks.

Many black Africans have been seeking repatriation after recent remarks by President Kais Saied unleashed a wave of violence against them.

He denies inciting hatred by saying they were part of a conspiracy to change the demographic composition of the North African country, which has a predominantly Arab-Muslim culture.

What followed was a crackdown on migrants with many subjected to detentions, abuse and evictions from their houses.

Journalists have been tweeting from the scene of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) office, saying a camp where migrants had gathered has been completely destroyed.

“Police have arrested many people, and having spoken to one migrant, he says he cannot find his wife and child now,” tweeted freelance journalist Elizia Volkmann, adding that many of them were registered refugees.

“Lawyers are investigating where those arrested have been taken,” she said.

Teargas was reportedly fired and batons used to remove people.

“Devastation here. The camp's destroyed, with people's goods being taken away as rubbish,” another freelance journalist Simon Cordall tweeted.

Academic Monica Marks tweeted footage which appears to have been filmed during the clashes. One man can be heard saying: “This country is not safe for us, we need evacuation.”

It is not clear how many people were camped outside the UNHCR.

Ivory Coast, Guinea and Burkina Faso are among countries which have organised the repatriation of their citizens over the last month in the wake of the race row.

More on this topic:

• Why Tunisia's president picked on sub-Saharan African migrants

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An Egyptian official has described as "utterly baseless" allegations in leaked Pentagon documents that Cairo planned to secretly produce and supply Russia with 40,000 missiles.

The denial, by an unnamed source, has been carried by several pro-government news channels.

The documents were obtained by the Washington Post from a leaked trove of US defence department papers.

As part of the denial, the official was quoted as saying Cairo did not take sides in the Ukraine war.

The Kremlin described the allegations as "just another canard".

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More on this topic:

Ukraine war: Who leaked top secret US documents - and why? - BBC News