Moroccan police have arrested at least a dozen people for spreading rumours about the coronavirus, including a woman who used her YouTube channel to say the disease did not exist, authorities said on Thursday. “Fake news is the first cause of panic among citizens,” said Prime Minister Saad...

Militias loyal to East Libya-based commander Khalifa Haftar launched rocket attacks Wednesday on the capital, killing four civilians.   Three children from the same family were killed in the first attack in southern Tripoli’s Ain Zara suburb, according to the Health Ministry under...

Hunched over sewing machines in a long abandoned factory in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, 20 women stitch face masks as a country ravaged by war, hunger and disease prepares for the arrival of a new epidemic. COVID-19 has yet to be documented in Yemen, but Abdel Ilah, who manages the factory that...

The parallel administration controlling eastern Libya will impose a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., excluding security and emergency personnel, to stop any spread of the coronavirus, its interior ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. Libya has not yet confirmed any cases of the virus,...

More than a decade after it closed, 20 Yemeni women have revived the war-torn country's oldest factory to make face masks in anticipation of an outbreak of the new coronavirus. The situation is especially fraught because Yemen's health system has all but collapsed following years of...

Tunisia will impose a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. starting Wednesday with the army patrolling the streets, Tunisia’s president said on Tuesday, tightening the measures to counter the spread of the coronavirus. Tunisia, which has declared 24 cases of the virus, closed mosques, cafes and...

Western and Arab countries in a statement on Tuesday urged Libya’s warring factions to stop fighting to allow the country’s authorities to respond to the threat posed by the coronavirus. Although Libya has yet to record any confirmed cases, the World Health Organisation representative in...

Tunisian police used tear gas to disperse dozens of youths at a traditional ram fight on Tuesday because it broke coronavirus rules against crowds, the local Mosaique FM radio reported. Ram fighting is a popular pastime in North Africa and the strongest animals with the most beautiful horns...

The impact of the coronavirus and falling oil prices may have damaged Lebanon’s chances of securing aid from foreign states, the economy minister said on Tuesday, adding that IMF aid should be considered as an option alongside others. Lebanon is suffering its worst financial crisis since...

Algeria will suspend all sea and air travel between it and Europe from Thursday over the coronavirus, Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad said in a statement. Algeria will also suspend flights with African countries, including Senegal, Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Coast Ivory and Burkina Faso from...

In Sudan’s capital Khartoum, a hip-hop producer who had his equipment seized during anti-government protests last year is now free to mix tracks in his studio. Across town, an all-female troupe in pink T-shirts and white jeans practice rhythmic dance routines late in the evening in a...

There is no known cure for the new coronavirus, but in the medicinal herbs souq in Tunis, anxious Tunisians are consulting with herbalists and stocking up on traditional remedies. "I am afraid for my father, who is old and sick, so I have come here to look for plants to boost his immunity,"...

Morocco on Sunday suspended day all international passenger flights to and from its airports as a protective measure against the spread of coronavirus, the foreign ministry said. Morocco has confirmed 28 coronavirus cases including one death and one recovery.

Ammar Jouini had been optimistic about this year, hoping that after Tunisia’s tourism sector finally recovered from years of pain caused by militant attacks in 2015, his souvenir business might also be looking up. But with the coronavirus devastating holiday bookings, he is thinking of...

Libyan schools in areas controlled by both the Tripoli government and a rival administration in Benghazi will close for two weeks, both have announced. Libya has not yet confirmed any cases of the coronavirus but the head of its disease control center said on Thursday that the country...

Thunderstorms and flooding around Egypt entered a second day Friday, interrupting daily life in much of the country, including the capital Cairo, as the death toll rose to 18, authorities said. Most of the fatalities took place in the country's rural areas and run-down slums. At least six...

Sudan's economy has sunk into a deep crisis since the overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir almost a year ago, risking collapse and social unrest in a country in transition. Mass protests erupted in Sudan in late 2018 against a government decision to triple bread prices....

Algerians are watching to see whether a global epidemic will do what the ruling authorities they describe as le pouvoir - the powers that be - have failed to achieve, and quell a year of mass protests. The street demonstrations in Algiers and other cities take place on Fridays and Tuesdays,...

Thirteen people were injured when two passenger trains collided Thursday in the Egyptian capital, the health ministry said, triggering a suspension in nationwide rail services. It said the casualties of the crash involving passengers from Upper Egypt were ferried to Cairo hospitals, as rail...

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi movement in Yemen blocked southern separatist leaders from returning to Aden city, Yemeni officials said on Thursday, as a deal to end a power struggle in the south with the Saudi-backed government faltered. The separatists are part of a Sunni...