The Middle East at war with coronavirus: Top stories from 24 June

An Iranian official called for mask-wearing to be made compulsory as the country on Wednesday reported its highest daily coronavirus death toll in more than two-and-a-half months.

"It is certainly required that the wearing of masks becomes mandatory," said Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi.

"If we use masks, especially in closed spaces and gatherings, we can very much reduce the virus' spread," he added in remarks broadcast on television.

Iran reported its first Covid-19 cases on February 19, and it has since struggled to contain the outbreak at the death toll nears 10,000.

It has refrained from imposing a mandatory lockdown on people to stop the virus' spread, and the use of masks and protective equipment is optional in most areas.

The Islamic Republic closed schools, cancelled public events and banned movement between its 31 provinces in March, but the government gradually lifted restrictions from April to try to reopen its sanctions-hit economy.

Official figures have shown a rising trajectory in new confirmed cases since early May, when Iran had hit a near-two month low in daily recorded infections.

Health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said on Wednesday that the 133 fatalities in the past 24 hours brought the country's overall virus death toll to 9,996.

That made it the deadliest day in Iran since 6 April, when the government reported 136 virus fatalities.

Egypt's final-year university students have taken to social media to express their outrage over the education ministry's decision to hold exams in-person, despite the country's health crisis caused by coronavirus.

Students posted to Twitter a screenshot purported to be of a ministry meeting over online video platform Zoom.

"They hold their meetings online and decide to put our lives in danger by doing a traditional final exams, shame on you," tweeted one student.

"We want to graduate not die," tweeted another, accompanied by a comic illustration of virus particles eating students as they enter the exam hall.

The discussion prompted the hashtag #Egypt_kills_graduates to trend on Twitter.

Higher Education Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar announced in May that final-year exams would begin on 1 July after an initial postponement.

Abdel-Ghaffar said that each university was responsible to set their own schedules and enforce precautionary measures to ensure the safety of students and staff.

However high school exams, which began on Sunday following a three-week delay, were also meant to have enforced social distancing measures, however these fell apart on the first day.

The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday it has reached an initial agreement with Sudan's transitional government on a reform deal to help the African nation face daunting economic challenges that threaten its transition to democracy even as it battles the coronavirus pandemic.

The development comes just over a year after the removal of autocratic President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the international war crimes tribunal for atrocities in the Darfur region.

The IMF said it held virtual meetings with Sudanese authorities this month to discuss the government's plans to stabilise the economy, strengthen the social safety net, and improve governance and the business environment.

"The focus is on reducing fiscal and external deficits to contain inflation, strengthening social programs to mitigate the impact of adjustment and address the fallout of Covid-19, and improving the business environment and governance," said Daniel Kanda, who led the IMF mission to Sudan.

He said the reforms envisage increasing domestic revenue and reforming energy subsidies to create room for more spending on social programmes, including the health sector and assistance to the poor.

Sudan has reported more than 8,800 cases of coronavirus, including 548 deaths, but testing is limited and the country's health system is ill-equipped to handle a pandemic.