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Tunisia’s government dangerously sliding into repression
Mothers in the Tunisian capital are accusing authorities of arbitrarily arresting their children in response to several nights of unrest, with rights groups saying at least 1,000 people have been detained. "The policeman shoved the door of my building and arrested my...
Unable to govern, North African governments are using repression as their only tool in their toolbox
This week (ending 21 January 2021), Tunisia made the front pages of global media with Tunisians clashing with security forces over the past days to complain about their living conditions. The riots, which are still underway, have been taking place in several regions,...
Tunisia: Rights groups decry mass arrests in Tunisia
Tunisian security forces have arrested at least 1,000 people during six nights of urban unrest between disaffected youths and riot police, human rights and other non-government groups said Thursday. The North African country, where the Covid-19 pandemic has deepened...
Tunisia: Prime Minister recognizes “legitimate” anger of protesters but unrest continues
Young Tunisians clashed with security forces overnight and protest organisers called for anti-government rallies Wednesday after five days of riots in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi acknowledged their "legitimate" anger in a televised...
Tunisia: Street riots continue for fourth night in Tunisia
Tunisia braced for further protests Tuesday after hundreds were arrested in four nights of street clashes between riot police and disaffected youths in cities across the North African country. President Kais Saied urged young Tunisians to refrain from further...
Tunisia: Economic and social despair fuel unrest in Tunisia
Tunisia has seen a new wave of street clashes since the North African country marked the 10th anniversary of its revolution last week. More than 600 mostly young people have been arrested in the rioting, mostly in poor neighbourhoods, with minors as young as 15 among...
Tunisia: Chaos and unrest in several cities, troops deployed
Tunisian authorities said Monday they had arrested more than 600 people and deployed troops after a third consecutive night of riots, mostly by young people in working class districts of several cities. The unrest came despite a nationwide coronavirus pandemic...
Tunisia PM reorganizes government cabinet, dozen ministers affected by reshuffle
Tunisia's Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi announced on Saturday a major cabinet reshuffle affecting 12 ministries, in the wake of high-profile sackings. "The aim of this reshuffle is to achieve greater efficiency in the work of the government," Mechichi said at a press...
Tunisia: Switzerland may unfreeze dictator’s ill-gotten millions stashed in its banks, the Tunisian people could lose it all
Tunisia could lose millions of dollars stashed in Switzerland by the family of ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, a senior official said Saturday. The funds are currently frozen by Swiss authorities but a deadline to claw back funds ends midnight on Tuesday and...
Turkey’s growing influence in the Maghreb, from drones to soap operas
By Hamza Mekouar: Turkey is boosting its influence across North Africa, analysts say, intervening militarily in war-torn Libya and using "soft power", trade and investment in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. While Turkish-made drones have won battles in Libya, its soap...
Arab tyrants and their cronies: how Tunisia’s Ben Ali clan ended in utter misery and disgrace
Ten years since an uprising toppled Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, his in-laws, who ran a mafia-like empire that once pocketed a fifth of national private sector profits, are scattered across the world. Few have faced justice. Here is an overview. Ben Ali...
Tunisia: Celebrating one decade of protest and a whole lot more to come
By Caroline Nelly Perrrot and Aymen Jamli: Tunisia, where the Arab Spring started, has also been its relative success story -- but celebrations will be muted when it marks on Thursday one decade since protesters ousted its autocratic leader. The revolutionary...
Tunisia says it neutralized Al-Qaeda cell plotting “terrorist attacks”
Tunisia has arrested a suspected branch leader of Al-Qaeda in North Africa, along with several others suspected of planning "terrorist" attacks, a judicial spokesman said Friday. "Two dangerous wanted individuals, one of whom is an Al-Qaeda leader", were arrested in...
Tunisia wants UN monitors in Libya
Tunisia, the current president of the UN Security Council, called Monday for a resolution sending international monitors to support Libya's brittle ceasefire to be adopted as soon as possible. "We hope that it will be adopted as soon as possible" because "there is a...
Tunisia extends state of emergency, grants exceptional powers to security forces
The Tunisian presidency on Friday announced a six-month extension of the country's state of emergency, in place since a 2015 attack on a presidential guard bus claimed by the Islamic State group. President Kais Saied "decided on the six-month extension of the...
Tunisia arrests dozen people over waste shipped from Italy
Tunisia arrested a dozen people including its environment minister Monday in a scandal over hundreds of containers of household waste shipped from Italy to the North African country. The 282 containers were seized this summer by Tunisian customs officials in the...
Tunisia: Shepherd in Kasserine beheaded, authorities say attackers are terrorists
The decapitated body of a young man has been found in Tunisia's central Kasserine region, in a probable "terrorist" attack, a justice official said. "The decapitated body of a young man has been found... and it is probable that a terrorist group was behind the...
Tunisia: Italian garbage landing in Tunisia forces president to fire environment minister
Tunisia’s environment minister and others arrested over Italian trash scandal Tunisia arrested a dozen people including its environment minister Monday in a scandal over hundreds of containers of household waste shipped from Italy to the North African country. The 282...
Algeria’s mediocre diplomacy: Even the Tunisians are slowly turning their back to Algiers ($)
Between Tunis and Algiers, diplomatic relations are strained, resulting from the recent statements of two former top Tunisian state officials about the controversial handling of the Western Sahara issue by the Algerians. The ex-officials are the influential Moncef...
Tunisia: Gulf monarchies are not ripping apart just Libya, they are now focused on Tunisia via their local proxies ($)
How Ennahdha chief Ghannouchi sides with Qatar and Abir Moussi is the UAE's darling in Tunisia. In Tunisia, two political factions have been facing each others with the aim of degrading the other. On the one hand is the Ennahdha party, known to be a champion of the...
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