Middle East Minute for December 4, 2020 - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Catch up on some of this week's biggest headlines around the region. Iran passed a bill to stop UN inspections and increase uranium enrichment, Israel voted to dissolve its parliament and sets the path for a fourth election, and Egypt is condemned for its shocking rise in using the death penalty.

Women chant slogans as they gather to protest against sexual harassment in front of the opera house in Cairo June 14, 2014, after a woman was sexually assaulted by a mob during the June 8 celebrations marking the new president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's inauguration in Tahrir square. Egypt has asked YouTube to remove a video showing the naked woman with injuries being dragged through the square after being sexually assaulted during the celebrations. Authorities have arrested seven men aged between 15 and 49 for

Will Egypt's parliament toughen punishment for rape?

Amira Sayed Ahmed

Amira Sayed Ahmed

Europe wants Egypt to drop death penalty

Hagar Hosny

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 01: U.S. House Armed Services Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-CA) (3rd L) speaks as (L-R) U.S. Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL), U.S. Rep. Rob Whittman (R-VA), and U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) listen during a news conference March 1, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Members of the House Armed Services Committee held a news conference on "the day that sequestration will take effect, to call for an end to repeated cuts to our national security and focus on the rea

House Defense bill calls for conditions on Iran deal

Julian Pecquet

An Iranian anti-narcotics policeman stands guard beside a display of confiscated drugs during a ceremony concluding anti-narcotics manoeuvres in Zahedan, 1,605 kilometers (1,003 miles) southeast of Tehran May 20, 2009. The head of the U.N. crime agency praised Iran during a visit on Wednesday for curbing the flow of smuggled heroin from Afghanistan and helping keep the drug off Western streets. Picture taken May 20, 2009. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN CRIME LAW POLITICS SOCIETY) - RTXKL1B

Will Iran end the death penalty for drug smuggling?

Arash Karami