Girls learn ballet steps in conservative Upper Egypt

Sunday's visit was the first by an Israeli foreign minister to Egypt for over a decade. Top of the agenda was the fragile cease-fire as well as plans to rebuild the bombed Palestinian enclave.

Delegations from Israel and Egypt meet in Cairo and Jerusalem to discuss establishing a permanent ceasefire between the Jewish state and Gaza's Hamas rulers. Egypt played a pivotal role in negotiating a ceasefire earlier this month between Israel and Gaza's Palestinian Islamist rulers Hamas, bringing an end to 11 days of deadly fighting.

Pyramids, Tutankhamun masks, Nefertiti busts -- Egypt's souvenir craftspeople are pinning their hopes on a new lease of life, after tourism was battered by the coronavirus pandemic. Anticipating a surge in tourists, the government is investing millions in local replica production to boost revenue.

Technology has facilitated the sexual exploitation of thousands of women in Egypt. To save others from the same destiny, a young Egyptian man launched an online group dedicated to confronting extorters.

Every year millions and millions of sardines trek along the cold currents off the South Africa coast during the southern hemisphere winter months, peaking in July. Countless dolphins and sharks hunt along the shoals - a spectacular sight that awes tourists lucky enough to find them.

Despite the release of prominent imprisoned activists, the situation of dissidents in Egypt remains dire. The latest arrests suggest that Egypt is continuing its clampdown on critics.

Teenage girls in Kano, a socially conservative Muslim city in northern Nigeria, are learning robotics, computing and other STEM subjects in an innovative project to "open their minds". In a part of the world where many girls are expected to marry young and their education is not prioritised, these girls are being supported in their endeavour to develop skills and independent thinking by their parents and even by a member of the local emir's traditional court

In the lush green fields of Egypt's fertile Delta Valley, farmers and artisans are struggling to make a living as they keep alive the Pharaonic-era tradition of making papyrus.

As concern grows internationally about an expected clampdown by the Taliban on women's rights, students at one girls’ school are "happy" to be returning. Schools in Herat faced long closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing security concerns over Taliban advances before insurgents finally captured the city on August 12. The school's director says it reopened on Monday and students are attending class, with more of the girls wearing the hijab and choosing conservative dress than before the Taliban takeover.

Twins Aminata and Ramatoulaye Diaw have impressed Senegal by achieving their baccalaureate at the age of only 13, a new record in the African nation.

The Taliban say they will not stop girls from going to school, but experts say it is hard to trust them. For young girls, who have just started school and had never seen the Taliban, it is a difficult situation.

A new religious decree in Egypt allows hymen repair for more women than before. While it has been welcomed by rights activists and women's organizations, some critics fear that it might lure women into premarital sex.