At least six people were killed and dozens injured on Monday when a fuel truck exploded in southwestern Libya, medics said.

The precise causes of the blast were not clear.

Iraqi security forces erected concrete barriers on Monday ahead of counter-protests planned by Shiite political rivals against an influential cleric whose followers have staged a parliament sit-in for a third day.

Many feared that dueling protests could escalate tensions.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has suggested that his country, Africa's largest natural gas exporter, could join the BRICS economic group that includes Russia and China.

Tebboune's comment comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin -- whose country is hit with Western sanctions over its Ukraine invasion -- in June called on BRICS leaders to move towards "formation of a truly multipolar system of inter-government relations".

A Virginia judge has entered a default judgment against a Libyan military commander after he repeatedly failed to show up for depositions in a federal lawsuit in which he is accused of war crimes.

The exact amount of the judgment against Khalifa Haftar, who spent decades living in the U.S., will be determined at a future date. Because Haftar and his family own extensive property in northern Virginia from his time in the country, according to the plaintiffs, they are optimistic they will be able to collect any judgment that is awarded.

Supporters of powerful Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr penetrated Baghdad's heavily fortified "Green Zone" and occupied parliament on Saturday in a deepening political crisis.

It is the second time in days that Sadr supporters have forced their way in to the legislative chamber, months after elections that failed to lead to formation of a government.

A Palestinian teenager was killed on Friday in clashes with the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Amjad Nashaat Abu Alia, 16, "died of critical wounds sustained by live bullets in the chest", during clashes near the village of Al-Mughayer, close to Ramallah, the ministry said in a statement.

Tunisian voters have approved a referendum on a new constitution that gives more powers to the country's president. It's a step that brings hope to many in the struggling North African nation, but critics warn it could return Tunisia to autocracy and say low turnout marred the vote's legitimacy.

Some people interviewed by The Associated Press this week celebrated the result of Monday's referendum and expressed support for President Kais Saied, who spearheaded the project and proposed the text himself.

Egyptian prosecutors are denying allegations of torture and ill-treatment leveled by a prominent imprisoned activist and claim he is in good condition, years after the allegations were made.

For nearly 10 days, Alaa Abdel-Fattah's family members say they have not heard from him and have been told by prison officials he's refusing to meet with them. Amnesty International has urged Egyptian authorities to allow the family access to the 40-year-old programmer and father serving a five-year sentence.

French leader Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman agreed to work "to ease the effects" of the Ukraine war, Macron's office said Friday, after talks in Paris that marked the full diplomatic rehabilitation of the Saudi leader.

Like U.S. President Joe Biden who visited Riyadh earlier this month, Macron had been keen to secure extra oil production from the de facto Saudi leader who was a pariah in the West under recently.

The followers of the influential populist Shiite cleric came by the thousands to storm Iraq's parliament. Just as quickly, the protesters dispersed at his command.

Mass mobilization and control is a well-worn strategy of Muqtada al-Sadr, a mercurial figure who has emerged as a powerful force in Iraq's cutthroat political scene with a nationalist, anti-Iran agenda.