Egyptians began voting on Saturday on constitutional changes that will potentially allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to stay in office until 2030 and bolster the role of Egypt’s powerful military. Sisi’s supporters say the changes are necessary to give him more time to complete major development projects and economic reforms. Critics say they concentrate more powers in Sisi’s hands and return Egypt to an authoritarian model.

Dozens of women and children, relatives of Kosovo jihadists fighting in Syria, were flown back home by plane on Saturday under heavy security. “The planned operation for the return of some of our citizens from Syria has ended successfully,” Justice Minister Abelrad Tahiri said at the airport early on Saturday.Details would be released later in the day, he said.

North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un inspected and directed a "new tactical guided weapons firing test" Wednesday, according to a report from the country's state media. The report, did not state exactly what kind of weapon was tested, nor its potential range.

Raging conflict in Libya has further stirred divisions in Europe and in the Arab world as some Arab countries are backing the Benghazi-based general Khalifa Haftar offensive against Tripoli, while others are siding with Europe in attempts to stop him, news wires reported. Last Tuesday, Qatar, for example, called on for a blocking of foreign arms supplies to eastern Libyan forces, which are staging a two-weeks long siege on the capital.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, known as AKP, is asking the country's election council for a redo of the mayoral election in Istanbul, the country's financial capital and its largest city. The Supreme Election Council, or YSK, will now decide whether to give the mandate to AKP opposition, Republican People's Party, CHP, in Istanbul or to hold new elections 2 June.

Greta Thunberg, the teenage Swedish activist at the head of a worldwide youth movement against climate change, will lead a rally in Rome on Friday, 19 April, news wires reported. Thunberg, 16, will address demonstrators in Piazza del Popolo, the central square where Italian activists have been gathering for weekly 'Fridays for Future' rallies.

Albanian opposition parties have rallied in the Tirana, the capital, calling for the government's resignation, an early parliamentary election as well as for electoral reforms over claims of corruption. Some protesters tried to storm the parliament building, but police responded with tear gas and water cannon.

A panel of judges at the International Criminal Court has rejected a request to proceed with investigating possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan, including those allegedly involving US armed forces and the CIA. This comes in response to a request from ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in 2017, a prospect that US officials have strongly criticised.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has further cemented his grip on power, in a big reshuffle of the country's leadership this week. Kim, however, didn't signal a retreat, either from negotiations with the US or a self-imposed moratorium on testing of missiles and nuclear bombs, something Pyongyang said last month he had been considering. Instead, Kim's remarks pointed to economic belt-tightening in an attempt to ride out economic sanctions - and perhaps the Trump administration, too - while hanging on to his country's nuclear arsenal.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday announced the launch of a Supreme Anti-Corruption Court, part of a flurry of activity to shore up his reform credentials ahead of a presidential election run-off next week.