Breaking News
Algeria and Morocco appear to be using the coronavirus pandemic to quietly silence dissent and arrest journalists who are reporting on the pandemic.
Moroccans face jail time if they are caught in public without face masks, Saudi Arabia imposes a 24-hour virus lockdown in five cities, while in Pakistan the outbreak reaches prisons.
Morocco has become the latest country to make it compulsory for people to wear face masks in public, in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19
Morocco has ordered the release of thousands of prisoners as the death toll from the COVID-19 illness increased to 66 people.
With 1,171 officially declared cases, including 105 deaths, Algeria is worse hit than its North African neighbours Tunisia and Morocco, and its health sector is in dire need of improvement.
Two French doctors have come under fire for suggesting a vaccine for coronavirus should be tested in Africa.
In patriarchal societies, women who suffer from domestic abuse will be left even more vulnerable in the face of lockdowns.
Comment: In the absence of US support in the Middle East, China is turning the coronavirus crisis into an opportunity for a PR triumph, writes Kyle Haddad-Fonda.
Activists jailed and protest camps destroyed, hundreds arrested for breaking curfew, and prisoners jailed in overcrowded unsanitary conditions: measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic are worrying rights campaigners.
As the novel coronavirus spread across the Middle East, several countries have closed their borders, grounded fights and imposed travel restrictions for both citizens and tourists.
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