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  1. Tunisians begin to vote in controversial referendum

    BBC World Service

    Tunisians vote in a referendum on a draft constitution put forward by the country's president, at a polling station

    Tunisians are voting in a referendum on a controversial new constitution which would entrench significant new powers seized by the president, Kais Saied.

    He dismissed parliament a year ago and has been ruling largely by decree.

    The proposed constitution would formalise this, subordinating parliament to the president and removing most checks on his authority.

    Mr Saied and his supporters say the changes are needed to end political factionalism and corruption.

    But critics say the reforms would end the relatively open democracy brought in after the popular uprising of 2011 which drove the autocratic former president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, from power.

    Read more on this story:

  2. Egypt court seeks live TV execution of woman killer

    BBC World Service

    Prison bars
    Image caption: Egypt's executions are carried out by hanging

    A court in Egypt has called for a legal amendment to allow live broadcast of the execution of the killer of a female student.

    Egyptians were horrified after video footage went viral last month purportedly showing Mohammed Adel stabbing to death Nayera Ashraf, who rejected his advances, outside her university.

    In a letter to parliament, the court that sentenced the 22-year-old to death said the broadcast of even a part of the proceedings could achieve the goal of deterrence.

    Egypt does not broadcast executions, which are always carried out by hanging inside prisons.

    A 2015 United Nations survey said nearly eight million Egyptian women were victims of violence.

  3. Video content

    Video caption: Huge jellyfish swarm surrounds boat in Israel

    Aerial footage shows the swarm of jellyfish in the waters of Haifa Bay during the annual migration.

  4. Video content

    Video caption: Tunisians gear up for constitutional referendum

    Tunisia's President Kais Saied may succeed in tightening his grip through a constitutional referendum on July 25. But critics say it will push the country back to a one-man rule.

  5. Fighting by Libyan militias prompt flight diversions

    BBC World Service

    Newsroom

    Members of the Libyan armed unit, 444 Brigade, backing the government and its Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, set up a checkpoint as smoke rises in the background in Ain Zara area in Tripoli, Libya, July 22, 202
    Image caption: Smoke could be seen rising on Friday over the capital where tensions are high

    There have been fresh clashes between rival militia factions in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, after one group detained a member of another.

    The heavy fighting between the Special Deterrence Forces and the Tripoli Revolutionaries Battalion left at least three people dead, although some reports put that number at 15.

    Flights to the city's airport were diverted to Misrata, nearly 200km (125 miles) away.

    Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah has sacked his interior minister over the incident

    The Presidential Council has called on both militias to return to their bases.

    The UN support mission to Libya has called for an investigation into the incident.

  6. Migrants sentenced in Morocco for illegal entry

    Richard Hamilton

    BBC World Service News

    Protesters
    Image caption: Protests, like this one in Rabat in June, were held in the wake of the deaths at the border

    A court in Morocco has sentenced 33 migrants to 11 months in jail for illegal entry, following a deadly mass border-crossing attempt into the Spanish enclave of Melilla last month.

    At least 20 migrants died after around 2,000 people, many from Sudan, stormed the frontier.

    It was the worst death toll in years of attempted migrant crossings into the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla - the European Union's only land borders with Africa.

    The UN, African Union and human rights groups condemned the use of excessive force by the Moroccan and Spanish security services.

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  7. At least 22 killed in Egypt road crash

    At least 22 people have been killed in a car crash in the southern Egyptian province of Minya.

    Twenty-three other people were injured and were taken to nearby hospitals.

    The accident occurred early morning on Tuesday as a bus with about 45 passengers on board crashed into a stationary lorry.

    Road accidents are common in Egypt, with thousands killed every year.