Watchdog

Aya Hijazi, a dual U.S.-Egyptian citizen who founded a charity in 2013 to help street children, has been released from an Egyptian prison after nearly three years in custody.

Taher Abol Nasr, an attorney for Hijazi, confirmed on April 19 that Hijazi had been released from prison late on April 18 -- two days after a court acquitted her of child-abuse charges that were widely dismissed by human rights groups and U.S. officials.

Hijazi had been arrested by Egyptian authorities in 2014 along with six others from her charity.

It was not immediately clear whether her co-defendants were also released.

U.S. President Donald Trump did not publicly mention the case when he met with Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi earlier in April.

But the White House said ahead of that meeting that Hijazi’s case would be addressed during their talks in Washington.

Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP

Iran's judiciary has blocked newly introduced call features on a highly popular messaging app called Telegram.

It was not immediately clear whether the reason for the blocking of voice calls, introduced last week, was a political move ahead of the country's May presidential election or an attempt to protect the commercial interests of Iranian telecom companies.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov confirmed the restrictions in a message posted on his official channel.

"In Iran, where Telegram has some 40 million active users, Telegram voice calls have been completely blocked by the country's Internet providers and mobile operators following an order from the judiciary," Durov wrote.

The block follows March arrests in Iran of 12 managers of popular reformist and pro-government Telegram channels -- a move that some critics say was part of crackdown ahead of the May presidential election.

Iran's judiciary said the 12 telegram managers were arrested on national security charges.

But the arrests also have been criticized by Iran's President Hassan Rohani, who is seeking a second term.

Many Iranians use Telegram for messaging purposes but also to access and exchange news and information.

Iranian media outlets and many of the country's politicians maintain their own channels on the Telegram app.

Based on reporting by AFP and Bloomberg