Egypt

CAIRO, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's COVID-19 cases on Sunday hit 138,657 with 1,542 new infections, while Iran's tally reached 107,603.

The death toll from the coronavirus in Turkey rose to 3,786 after 47 new fatalities were added in the past 24 hours, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has inspected the construction sites of two COVID-19 hospitals in the country's biggest city of Istanbul, which are expected to be completed soon.

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has approved amendments to the country’s state of emergency that grant him and security agencies additional powers, which the government says are needed to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

An international rights group condemned the amendments, saying the government has used the global pandemic to “expand, not reform, Egypt’s abusive Emergency Law.”

CAIRO (AP) — A bid by separatists funded by the United Arab Emirates to assert control over southern Yemen has reopened a dangerous new front in Yemen’s civil war and pushed it closer to fragmentation at a time when the coronavirus pandemic poses a growing threat.

The separatists’ recent declaration of self-rule over the key port city of Aden and other southern provinces also further pits Saudi Arabia and the UAE on opposing sides in the conflict, now in its sixth year. A separatist leader made the declaration from the UAE — a clear sign of its backing for the move.

CAIRO (AP) — One of Libya’s top anti-corruption officials was abducted by a militia tied to the interior ministry in the capital, the audit bureau said Monday, the latest twist in a long-running contest over the country’s vast wealth.

The abduction of Reda Gergab, the audit bureau’s administrative director, brought deep tensions in the Tripoli-based administration to the surface at a time of worsening economic crisis. The audit bureau is an independent body appointed by the Libyan parliament in Tripoli and is a rare check on the misappropriation of funds in the oil-rich country.

4 May 2020; MEMO: Journalism has become a crime in Egypt and the authorities are targeting supporters and oppositionists to strengthen their control, Amnesty International warned yesterday, accusing the regime of a lack of transparency and withholding information about the spread of the coronavirus in the country.

3 May 2020; AFP: A young Egyptian film-maker imprisoned for directing a music video critical of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has died in a Cairo jail, his lawyer said Saturday.

Shady Habash, 24, died in Tora prison, said lawyer Ahmed al-Khawaga, who was unable to give a cause of death.

"His health had been deteriorating for several days.... He was hospitalised, then returned to the prison yesterday evening where he died in the night," he told AFP, without giving further details.

CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese officials said Saturday they are working to criminalize the widespread practice of female genital mutilation after the transitional government approved a landmark draft law.

Under the proposed amendment to the criminal code, anyone found guilty of performing the procedure would be sentenced to up to three years in prison, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press.

The law must still be ratified by a joint meeting of the Cabinet and the sovereign council, which assumed power after last year’s overthrow of longtime President Omar al-Bashir.

CAIRO (AP) — Journalism in Egypt has effectively become a crime over the past four years, as authorities clamp down on media outlets and muzzle dissent, Amnesty International said in a report released Sunday.

As the number of coronavirus infections in Egypt continues to rise, the government is strengthening its control over information, the London-based rights group said, instead of upholding transparency during the public health crisis.

CAIRO, May 2. /TASS/: The Libyan National Army (LNA) headed by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar is currently holding consultations for the purpose of forming the Supreme National Council and the government of expert executives for administration of the country over the transitional period, a source in the House of Representatives of Libya told TASS.

1 May 2020; MEMO: The Egyptian government is considering a bill aimed at raising the rates of electricity and water in the new fiscal year which starts in July, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported citing government and parliamentary sources.

The bill was drafted by the Ministry of Electricity and the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, and it is pending approval by the Cabinet Council, the news website added.