Egypt's government is using a secretive judicial agency designed to fight terrorism to detain peaceful protesters, journalists and critics on trumped-up charges without trial, Amnesty International said in a report released Wednesday.

The 60-page report by the London-based rights group details how Egypt's Supreme State Security Prosecution, or SSSP, has become increasingly central to President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's sweeping crackdown on dissent.

Hong Kong's embattled government faced renewed pressure Wednesday to end a 10-day police siege of a university, as search teams found no evidence of any protesters still holding out and a major tunnel near the campus reopened.

The Polytechnic University said it has decided to halt its search after a sweep of the trash-littered campus for a second straight day failed to find anyone left behind. On Tuesday, one person was found — a young woman in weak condition.

Lebanon’s security forces have reportedly used “excessive force and failed to adequately protect protesters from violent attacks by others,” despite the overwhelmingly peaceful nature of the past month’s demonstrations across the country, U.N. human rights experts have said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri openly declared Tuesday that he is withdrawing his candidacy for the premiership.

In response to the "irresponsible practices" of political leaders, Hariri said he felt compelled to make his intentions known.

Clashes between Lebanese protesters and supporters of Hizbullah group are putting Lebanon's military and security forces in a delicate position, threatening to crack open the country's dangerous fault lines amid a political deadlock.

Pope Francis voiced concern about nuclear power Monday after meeting with victims of Japan's 2011 nuclear disaster, saying the development of future energy sources must take environmental considerations into account.

Francis didn't explicitly urge a ban on nuclear energy during his emotional encounter with victims. But he recalled that Japan's Catholic bishops called for the abolition of nuclear power plants in the aftermath of the "triple disaster," in which three reactors at a nuclear plant in Fukushima melted down after an earthquake triggered a tsunami.

Key roads around Lebanon were blocked by anti-government protesters on Monday following clashes throughout the night with AMAL and Hizbullah supporters.

Lebanese-American citizen Amer Fakhoury, who has been held in Lebanon since mid-September on suspicion that he tortured prisoners at the Israeli-run Khiam prison, is in poor health and his condition is life-threatening, his family has said, citing doctors.

No charges have been filed against Fakhoury. His lawyer, Celine Atallah, said it remains unclear why he's being held. Fakhoury, however, was once a member of the former Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army militia. He also worked as a senior warden at a former prison described by human rights groups as a center for torture.

A number of demonstrators who are part of the anti-corruption protest movement that is sweeping the country on Sunday rallied near the U.S. embassy in Awkar to denounce recent U.S. statements about the situation in Lebanon.

Heightened security measures were taken in the area as a security cordon was imposed several hundred meters away from the embassy to prevent protesters from approaching it.

German authorities have again deported a Lebanese man who was convicted of drug dealing and deported earlier this year but then returned to Germany.

The German news agency dpa reported that Ibrahim Miri was handed over to Lebanese authorities on Saturday in Beirut.