BBC News Middle East

More than 400 sub-Saharan African migrants have tried to storm the border of the Spanish enclave of Melilla in Morocco.

It's the first such attempted mass crossing into the territory since Madrid and Rabat resumed diplomatic ties in March.

The authorities in Melilla said a significant number of migrants managed to get in.

The diplomatic crisis came to an end after Spain supported Morocco's autonomy plan for the disputed region of Western Sahara.

Melilla and Ceuta have the European Union's only land borders with Africa, making them a magnet for migrants.

The interior ministry in Tunisia has said it has confirmed information that there are serious threats to the life and safety of President Kais Saied.

A ministry spokesperson also said that police forces had foiled what was it described as a terrorist attack on Thursday.

The announcement comes as Mr Saied continues to rule effectively by decree - with a referendum scheduled next month on a new constitution that his opponents say will further strengthen his powers.

Police in Tunisia have arrested a former prime minister, Hamadi Jebali.

During his premiership from 2011 to 2013, Mr Jebali belonged to the Ennahda Islamist party - the largest in parliament until President Kais Saied dissolved the assembly and seized executive power in Tunisia last year.

Mr Jebali’s lawyer said the former politician had been under recent investigation at his boiler factory in the city of Soussa, but could not say why he had been detained.

His family have denounced his arrest as "repressive", and say they hold President Saied personally responsible for his well-being.

A powerful trade union in Tunisia has rejected conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a loan to help tackle the country's economic crisis.

The head of the UGTT - Noureddine Taboubi - said the union supported reforms, but not what he called the painful options demanded by the IMF.

On Wednesday night, an IMF official said the organisation was ready to start formal talks on a financial bailout.

Last week, the UGTT called a one-day national strike of public sector workers that brought much of the country to a standstill.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed support for a wide-ranging but controversial economic reform programme being implemented by the government in Tunisia.

The country is facing a severe economic crisis and is asking for a $4bn (£3.2bn) loan.

Jihad Azour, the IMF's Middle East director - after meeting President Kais Saied in Tunis on Wednesday - said he liked the reform plan and that the IMF was ready to discuss a loan.

The plan includes freezing wages, stopping recruitment in the public sector and cutting energy and food subsidies.

But there have been big protests and Tunisia's powerful trade union movement has called nationwide strikes.

The president has already suspended parliament and sacked his entire cabinet.

He says he needs even more powers to better steer the country - his opponents say that amounts to a coup against democracy.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says she is seeking a meeting with her Egyptian counterpart to secure the release of a jailed activist who has been on a partial hunger strike since April.

Alaa Abdel Fattah was given British citizenship through his British-born mother.

He was a key figure in the 2011 uprising that ousted Egypt’s autocratic president Hosni Mubarak.

Mr Fattah was given a five-year jail sentence last December after being accused of spreading false news.

His family has welcomed Ms Truss’s pledge, saying time to help him is running out.

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