Libyan coastguard pick up nearly 300 migrants from three boats, including 16 clinging to a sinking dinghy A boy is rescued from a dinghy by Libyan coastguard. Photograph: Hani Amara/Reuters Survivors from a boat that foundered off Libya’s coast on Tuesday said about 50 people who had embarked with them were feared dead, while the coastguard said the number of… Read more »
For more than a decade, Mohammed Hassan felt secure in his job inspecting and offloading goods as food, oil and medicine were shipped into the Red Sea port of Hodeida. Yemen’s largest cargo port has long been the main artery for the country and Mr Hassan always believed ships would dock there, even as conflict tore his nation apart.
Christians in Egypt are facing unprecedented levels of persecution, with attacks on churches and the kidnap of girls by Islamist extremists intent on forcing them to marry Muslims, a report says. In the past year, Egypt has moved up an annual league table of persecution of Christians compiled by the charity Open Doors. According to its World Watch List, North… Read more »
Women have flocked to Le Mall in Jeddah to check out the kingdom’s first car exhibition aimed at women, a few months after Saudi Arabia granted them the right to drive. ‘I can’t describe my feelings’ – Saudi women finally allowed into games Read more In a decree issued in September, King Salman ordered an end to the ban on… Read more »
The Tunisian government has dropped their 2018 budget and in which opposition groups and protesters are calling unfair. In the budget, the government announced an increase in value-added tax and social contributions. The new financial budget has also added an increased priced on some goods and increased taxes on imports. Tunisia’s economy has been in the deep end since their… Read more »
Russia says it has identified the launch location from where a swarm of armed drones began their attack on two of its military bases in western Syria on Saturday.
Over 3 million people have been displaced by the conflict in Syria. But even in the relative safety of Lebanon and Jordan where many have fled, confusion persists. From practical advice about where to get medical treatment and vaccinations, to information on trauma, immigration and domestic violence, BBC Media Action’s short films available in community centres help people cope with life as a… Read more »
Ongoing tensions in the Red Sea region came to the fore in late December, when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Sudan as part of his Africa tour. During the visit, Erdogan and his Sudanese counterpart, Omar al-Bashir, signed more than a dozen agreements to boost the economic partnership between the two nations.
From the crack of dawn to a starry dusk, hundreds of technicians from around the world can be seen against a backdrop of pale-colored mountains and a still, sapphire reservoir. It appears serene and picturesque, but those workers are rushing to salvage Iraq’s deteriorating Mosul Dam – which was once under ISIS control and straddles the Tigris River just 40… Read more »
More than 300 people have been arrested in Tunisia overnight, as anger over the government’s austerity measures spilled into the streets once more.