A landmark case that helped galvanize Tunisia's #MeToo movement reached court this week, involving a legislator charged with sexual harassment and public indecency.

Feminist activists held a small protest outside the courthouse, shouting chants and waving placards that read "My body is not a public space." The activists sported T-shirts and badges bearing the hashtag of their movement #EnaZeda, #MeToo in Tunisian dialect.

Tourists are being offered a new glimpse at one of the largest ancient mosaics in the Middle East after renovations undertaken by the Palestinian Authority were unveiled this week.

The 930-square-meter (10,000-square foot) stone mosaic, with intricate geometric patterns, is part of what's known as Hisham's Palace. It was built during the reign of the Umayyads, the first hereditary Muslim dynasty, which ruled from Damascus. The palace was the winter resort of Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, who ruled from A.D. 724 to 743.

A group of 12 European countries on Thursday urged Israel to scrap plans for the construction of more than 3,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank.

A day after the U.S. criticized the plan, France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden said in a joint statement that Israel should "immediately" reverse its decision to build the settlements.

An Israeli military court has convicted a Palestinian man of the December killing of a French-Israeli citizen in the north of the occupied West Bank. 

Esther Horgen, a 52-year-old mother of six, had gone out jogging but did not return and was found dead in a forest near the Tal Menashe settlement in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory. 

Algeria will from now on deliver its natural gas to Spain exclusively through an undersea pipeline, ministers from both countries have reportedly said, after Algiers abandoned use of a line through Morocco.

In August Algeria cut diplomatic ties with its Maghreb neighbor Morocco which it accused of "hostile actions." 

A young Saudi man was released from prison after spending nearly a decade behind bars in a case that drew international scrutiny because until recently he'd been facing a possible death sentence for protest-related crimes committed as a minor.

Ali al-Nimr's case also drew attention because his uncle was influential Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, who was executed in January 2016 in a mass execution of 47 people in the kingdom. He was an outspoken government critic and a key leader of Shiite protests in eastern Saudi Arabia in 2011 demanding greater rights in the majority Sunni nation and fair treatment.

The U.N. special envoy for Syria has said the Syrian government's refusal to negotiate on revisions to the country's constitution is a key reason for the failure of talks last week that left the road map to peace in the conflict-torn country in question..

Geir Pedersen expressed his disappointment to the U.N. Security Council, saying the parties also failed to agree to meet again before the end of the year. But he said he will continue to engage with all "to address the challenges that have arisen," saying it is urgent to produce results.

A Moscow-bound EgyptAir flight returned to the Egyptian capital shortly after takeoff Wednesday due to a threatening message found onboard, authorities said.

A statement by Egypt's flagship airliner said flight MS728 had returned safely to Cairo International Airport some 22 minutes after takeoff. The flight was heading to the Russian capital, it said.

An Israeli committee convened Wednesday to approve 2,800 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, a day after the Biden administration issued its strongest condemnation yet of Israeli settlement construction.

The Defense Ministry's higher planning council, which authorizes West Bank construction, met to authorize the housing units, with more than half of them getting final approval before building starts. The start of the meeting was confirmed by the Israeli defense body COGAT.

Libya's only operational oil refinery was "severely" damaged after gunmen battled for three hours around the complex, the National Oil Corporation said.

"The Zawiya Oil Complex was severely damaged as a result of skirmishes by armed groups," Libya's state oil company NOC said.