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☆ Tunisia heads to the polls with a fading reputation as the Arab Spring’s only success story
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-06 | by ( Associated Press | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Not long ago, Tunisia was hailed as the Arab Spring’s only success story. He advanced to a runoff promising to usher in a “New Tunisia” and hand more power to young people and local governments. Seventeen potential candidates filed paperwork to run and Tunisia’s election authority approved only three: Saied, Zouhair Maghzaoui and Ayachi Zammel. That includes the 83-year-old leader of Tunisia’s most well organized political party Ennahda, which rose to power after the Arab Spring. People stand in line outside a polling station during the presidential election in the capital Tunis, Tunisia, on October 6, 2024.

Persons: Press — Tunisians, Kais Saied, El, Ben Ali —, Zouhair Maghzaoui, Saied, Saied’s, Zouhair, Ayachi, Jihed Abidellaoui, Rached Ghannouchi, party’s, Abir, Ennahda —, Tunisians, Zoubeir Souissi, Yassine Mahjoub, who’ve, Tunisia won’t Organizations: Press, Abid, Authorities, Reuters, Free Destourian Party, World Bank, European Union, Today, International Monetary Fund, Reuters Economic, Tunisia's, Independent Authority, Elections, Getty, Initiative, Saied Locations: TUNIS, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Tunis, Europe, Saharan Africa, Africa, AFP, ”, Iran, Russia, Saied, Israel

☆ Protesters in Mideast vent fury at Gaza blast as Europe ups security
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Israel said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which denied blame. In Tunis, protesters burned Israeli and American flags and demanded the expulsion of the U.S. and French ambassadors for what they termed their unconditional support for Israel. In Amman, deployed riot police pushed back thousands of Jordanian protesters planning to march on the heavily fortified Israeli embassy. 'REVENGE, REVENGE'The protesters voiced slogans backing Hamas, including "Revenge ... revenge ... O Hamas, bomb Tel Aviv." In Lebanon, security forces fired tear gas and water canon at protesters who were throwing projectiles as a protest near the U.S. embassy north of Beirut turned violent, footage broadcast by footage broadcast by Lebanese broadcaster al-Jadeed.

Persons: Jihed, Israel, “, ”, Ines Laswed, Nadia Sweilam, It's, Hesham Safieddine, Matteo Piantedosi, Tarek Amara, Suleiman al, Tom Perry, Benoit Van Overstraeten, William Maclean, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: REUTERS, Wednesday, Islamic Jihad, Israel, West Bank, Hamas, Hezbollah, French Foreign, Islamic State, Thomson Locations: Al, Ahli, Gaza, Tunis, Tunisia, Israel France, Lebanon, Europe, France, Israel, Jordan, Iran, Turkey, Amman, Rabia, Jordanian, Tel Aviv, U.S, Beirut, Lebanese, Palestinian, America, Hamas's, Versailles, Italy, Italian, Milan, Khalidi, Paris

TALAT N'YAAQOUB, Morocco, Sept 11 (Reuters) - About to return to school, seven-year-old Suleiman Aytnasr had been carried to his bedroom to ensure a good night's rest after he had fallen asleep in the living room. But Brahim was unable to reach Suleiman. "We thank God that our other sons are still alive." "There is a lot of suffering but we thank God for everything," he said. On Monday, the Moroccan army briefly visited Brahim's hamlet, surveying the damage as helicopters flew over.

Persons: TALAT N'YAAQOUB, Suleiman Aytnasr, Brahim, Talat N’Yaaqoub, Suleiman, He’s, Aytnasr, Mouath, Talat N'Yaaqoub, Hannah, haven’t, Alexander Cornwell Jihed Abidellaoui, Tom Perry, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Morocco, Talat, Marrakech, Moroccan, Brahim's

Many people spent a second night in the open after the 6.8 magnitude quake hit late on Friday. Morocco has declared three days of mourning and King Mohammed VI called for prayers for the dead to be held at mosques across the country on Sunday. PULLING SURVIVORS FROM RUBBLEThere were hopes more survivors could be found. Footage captured on Saturday in Moulay Brahim, showed rescuers pulling someone from the rubble. It was Morocco's deadliest earthquake since 1960 when a quake was estimated to have killed at least 12,000 people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Persons: King, Adeeni Mustafa, King Mohammed VI, Caroline Holt, Abdellatif Ait, Saida Bodchich, Moulay Brahim, Ayat, Ahmed Eljechtimi, Jose Joseph, Adam Makary, Omar Abdel, Angus McDowall, Tom Perry, Frances Kerry, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: ., Reuters, Ministry, World Health Organization, International Federation of Red, Red Crescent Societies, High, . Geological Survey, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, IMF, Thomson Locations: BRAHIM, Morocco, Marrakech, Moulay, Tansghart, Abdellatif Ait Bella, Turkey, Bengaluru, Razek, Cairo, London

REUTERS/Hannah McKay Acquire Licensing RightsMARRAKECH, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Families in Marrakech huddled into the early hours of Sunday, spending a second night on the streets as Morocco's deadliest earthquake in more than half a century left many fearing their homes were no longer safe to return to. Across parts of Morocco, people spent the night outdoors on Friday after the earthquake hit the country. Parts of Marrakech’s historical medina, a popular tourist attraction for Moroccans and foreigners, were damaged in the earthquake. Noureddine Lahbabi, a retired 68-year-old with four children, said as he too prepared to sleep outside for a second night that the damage caused to people’s homes was distressing. Eleven-year-old Jowra, speaking alongside her father, said she felt uneasy having to sleep near strangers.

Persons: Hannah McKay, Mouhamad Ayat, ”, Mohamed Aithadi, Jihed Abidellaoui Alexander Cornwell, William Mallard Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Ministry of Interior, Saturday, Moroccan, Thomson Locations: Marrakesh, Morocco, Rights MARRAKECH, Marrakech, medina, Moroccan

☆ Rescuers Hunt for Survivors of Morocco Quake With Over 2,000 Dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

Many people spent a second night in the open after the 6.8 magnitude quake hit late on Friday. The latest Interior Ministry figures put the death toll at 2,012, with 2,059 people injured, including 1,404 in critical condition. Morocco has declared three days of mourning and King Mohammed VI called for prayers for the dead to be held at mosques across the country on Sunday. PULLING SURVIVORS FROM RUBBLEThere were hopes more survivors could be found. Footage captured on Saturday in the town of Moulay Brahim, some 50 km (30 miles) south of Marrakech, showed rescuers pulling someone from the rubble.

Persons: Jihed Abidellaoui, Alexander Cornwell MARRAKECH, King Mohammed VI, Caroline Holt, Abdellatif Ait, Saida Bodchich, Ayat, ”, Ahmed Eljechtimi, Jose Joseph, Adam Makary, Omar Abdel, Tom Perry, Frances Kerry Organizations: ., Ministry, World Health Organization, International Federation of Red, Red Crescent Societies, High, Reuters, . Geological Survey, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, IMF Locations: Morocco, Marrakech, Moulay, Tansghart, Abdellatif Ait Bella, Turkey, Bengaluru, Razek, Cairo

☆ Tunisian heatwave hits wine output
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Jihed Abidellaoui | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Estimates of how far wine output has fallen vary, from a roughly 20% drop according to the Agriculture Ministry's Kilani Belhaj, to a reduction of 40-50% according to Vineyard Producers' Syndicate head Salim Chaouch. Winemakers in France and elsewhere in southern Europe have also warned of lower wine output this year due to the heat. "Climate change has impacted both the quantity and quality of production, with a broad effect on the sector. In ancient times Tunisia was a major wine producer under the Carthaginian and Roman empires and commercial-scale output began again under French colonialism, though it has not become a significant exporter. The grapes are picked early in the morning and driven to a modern processing facility at Takelsa in central Tunisia to be turned into wine.

Persons: Kilani, Salim Chaouch, Farmer Wajdi Graya, Hammadi Brik, Latifa Guesmi, Angus McDowall, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: Agriculture, Vineyard Producers, Syndicate, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: TUNIS, North Africa, France, Europe, Tunisia, Bon, Takelsa, Coteaux

☆ Changing climate pushes migrating birds from parched Tunisian wetlands
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Jihed Abidellaoui | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"It's the first time I've seen Sijoumi lagoon dry out in this way." Hicham Azafzaf, the scientific coordinator of Tunisia's Bird Lovers Association, said he had never seen such dry wetlands in his 20 years of monitoring them. However, while this summer has been particularly bad, it follows a longer trend that had already had a clear impact on birds. Climate change is not the only danger to Tunisia's wetlands, he said. Yet the lagoons and other wetlands are important for human residents too, regulating local temperature during heatwaves and helping avert dangerous floods by absorbing rainfall from sudden storms.

Persons: Radhia Haddad, Sijoumi, Haddad, Hicham Azafzaf, Tunisia's, Azafzaf, Jihed Abidellaoui, Angus McDowall, Conor Humphries Organizations: REUTERS, Association, Thomson Locations: Tunisia, Tunis, TUNIS, Africa, Europe, Ariana, Sicily

☆ Italy's migration conference aims to stem flows by helping Africa
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Angelo Amante | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The meeting will focus on building partnership for projects in sectors including agriculture, infrastructure and health, an Italian government statement said on Friday. "The conference aims to govern the migration phenomenon, combat human trafficking and promote economic development according to a new model of cooperation between states," the statement said. Meloni, who has led a right-wing coalition since October, has so far floundered in her efforts to stem the increase. At least 94 people died when their ship broke up just off the coast of Calabria in late February. ($1 = 0.8946 euros)Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Keith Weir and Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Jihed, Giorgia Meloni, Mattei, Kais Saied, Angelo Amante, Keith Weir, Alison Williams Organizations: REUTERS, United Arab, European Union, IMF, Reuters, Eni, Human Rights Watch, Thomson Locations: Italy, Sfax, Tunisia, Middle, Rome, Africa, Europe, Turkey, Libya, Algeria, United Arab Emirates, France, Calabria

☆ Tunisians struggle to buy sheep for Eid as economic crisis bites
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Jihed Abidellaoui | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] A Tunisian sheep breeder waits for customers at a livestock market in Borj El Amri, ahead of the Eid al-Adha, Tunisia June 17, 2023. REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui/File PhotoSummary Tunisians traditionally buy sheep for Eid al-Adha festivalDrought and expensive fodder increase sheep pricesTunisians already struggling with inflation and economyTUNIS, June 20 (Reuters) - Tunisians hoping to buy a sheep to slaughter for Islam's Eid al-Adha festival next week are facing much higher prices because of a drought, adding to public anxiety at an economic crisis that looks set to worsen. "We can't afford these prices," he said. He has already decided to sell 200 of his 350 sheep because he cannot afford to feed them. Farmers Union official Khaled Ayari said Tunisia had produced 1.2 million sheep for Eid in 2022 but only about 850,000 this year.

Persons: Jihed, Eid, Ridha Bouzid, Khaled Frekhi, El, Nabil Rhimi, Rhimi, Khaled Ayari, Haithem, Jihed Abidellaoui, Angus McDowall, Alison Williams Organizations: REUTERS, Farmers Union, Thomson Locations: Borj El, Adha, Tunisia, TUNIS

☆ Man fatally stabs police officer outside Brazilian embassy in Tunis
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/5] Police officers secure the area near the Brazilian embassy in Tunis, after a man stabbed a policeman near the embassy, local media reported, Tunisia June 19, 2023. REUTERS/Jihed AbidellaouiTUNIS, June 19 (Reuters) - A man fatally stabbed a policeman on duty outside the Brazilian embassy in Tunis on Monday before police shot the attacker in the leg and arrested him, the Interior Ministry said. A ministry official said the attacker, 53, was mentally ill and the stabbing was not being treated as terrorism. The policeman later died from his wounds, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry said. Reporting by Tarek Amara, writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Toby Chopra and Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Jihed Abidellaoui, Tarek Amara, Angus McDowall, Toby Chopra, Gareth Jones Organizations: Police, REUTERS, Interior Ministry, Thomson Locations: Tunis, Tunisia, Jihed, Jihed Abidellaoui TUNIS

[1/5] Abdessalem Maraouni, a Tunisian university student displays a medicine box of "Celluvisc" at his home in Tunis, Tunisia May 29, 2023. Tunisia imports all medicine through the state-owned Central Pharmacy, which provides drugs to hospitals and pharmacies around the country which offer them to patients at a subsidised rate. Amira said the Central Pharmacy owed about 1 billion dinars ($325 million) to suppliers. Tunisia's Health Ministry and Central Pharmacy did not respond to requests for comment. MEDICINE EXCHANGEFrom the roof of his Tunis house, retired soldier Nabil Boukhili has opened an unofficial medicine exchange for his neighbourhood in coordination with local doctors.

Persons: Maaoui, Faourati, Kais Saied, Naoufel Amira, Amira, Nabil Boukhili, Boukhili, I've, Najia, Abdessalem Maraouni, Kamal, Tarek Amara, Jihed Abidellaoui, Angus McDowall, Ros Russell Organizations: REUTERS, Monetary Fund, Central Pharmacy, Tunisia's Syndicate, Tunisia's Health Ministry, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Tunis, Tunisia, TUNIS, Europe

☆ Analysis: North Africa backslides toward swirling debt troubles
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Making debt payments could become almost impossible. EGYPTEgypt's finances also look stretched despite it securing a $3 billion IMF rescue plan in December. The rating agency, which downgraded Egypt's credit rating again on Friday, highlights that only default-stricken Sri Lanka would need to pay more. "It would not be immaterial if it were to default" Ross said about the impact on global money managers. "These very wealthy Gulf countries have generally enhanced financial stability in the region," via their support he added.

☆ Tunisia retrieves 41 drowned migrants as death toll soars
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Dead bodies, lying in bags, which according to hospital official belong to migrants, are pictured at the entrance of Habib Bourguiba hospital morgue in Sfax, Tunisia April 26, 2023. The bodies were in a decomposed state, suggesting they had been in the water for several days, said Houssem Eddine Jebabli told Reuters. The cumulative total of fatalities was unprecedented over such a short period, he said. Tunisia is struggling to contain the surge, and some morgues are running out of space to bury the victims. Reporting by Tarek Amara; Writing by Tala Ramadan in Dubai; Editing by Jon BoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ African migrants stuck in Tunisia say racism persists after crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Sudanese refugee, Awadhya Hasan Amine, reacts during a protest asking for evacuation, outside the headquarters of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in Tunis, Tunisia March 22, 2023. REUTERS/Jihed AbidellaouiTUNIS, March 24 (Reuters) - Weeks after a violent crackdown on migrants in Tunisia that triggered a perilous rush to leave by smuggler boats for Italy, many African nationals are still homeless and jobless and some say they still face racist attacks. Outside the United Nations refugee agency in Tunis, dozens of African migrants stood protesting this week by the temporary camp where they have lived, including with children, since authorities urged landlords to force them from their homes. While the official crackdown appeared to end weeks ago, migrants say they still face abuse. "Tunisia is an African country.

☆ Tunisian president's supporters rally against 'traitors'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Supporters of Tunisia's President Kais Saied hold cloth in the colours of the Tunisian flag during a rally to demonstrate their support for the president after a crackdown on opponents accused of treason and corruption, and to reject what they call foreign interference, in Tunis, Tunisia March 20, 2023. The opposition has held frequent protests against Saied, regularly drawing crowds of thousands, but his own supporters have only rarely taken to the streets. Saied has denied mounting a coup, saying his actions were legal and necessary to save Tunisia from years of chaos, and has denounced his opponents as traitors, criminals and terrorists. He has responded to expressions of concern at his moves by the United States and the European parliament by denouncing them as foreign interference and attacks on Tunisian sovereignty. "We support Saied in his campaign against the traitors and the corrupt, against those who ruined the country during the past decade and against external interference," Lobna Souissi, one of the demonstrators, said.

☆ Tunisian president rejects racism accusation after migrant crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui/File PhotoTUNIS, March 5 (Reuters) - Tunisia's president denounced racism on Sunday and pointed to possible legal consequences for perpetrators 10 days after announcing a crackdown on illegal migration using language the African Union condemned as "racialised hate speech". Police detained hundreds of migrants, landlords summarily evicted hundreds from their homes and hundreds of others were fired from work, rights groups say. While Saied denied racism in a statement on Feb. 23, he repeated his view of immigration as a demographic plot. In Sunday's statement he described the accusations of racism as a campaign against the country "from known sources", without elaborating. He has said his actions were legal and needed to save Tunisia from chaos.

☆ African migrants suffer under crackdown in Tunisia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Angus Mcdowall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/4] Ivory Coast nationals living in Tunisia and seeking repatriation, wait outside the embassy of Ivory Coast in Tunis, Tunisia February 27, 2023. Social media has, meanwhile, filled with accounts by darker-skinned people in Tunisia, including migrants with and without valid visas, African students and Black Tunisians, of ill treatment and fear. Official figures say there are 21,000 migrants from sub-Saharan African countries in Tunisia. Tunisia introduced visa-free travel for many African countries over the past decade. Many migrants in Tunisia aim to cross illegally to Europe but cannot afford the hundreds of dollars to get to Italy - a journey also taken by growing numbers of Tunisians.

☆ Powerful Tunisian trade union defies president with mass protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Tarek Amara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Supporters of the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), carry flags and banners during a protest against what they say authority's attacks on freedoms and union rights, in Sfax, Tunisia February 18, 2023. REUTERS/Jihed AbidellaouiSFAX, Tunisia, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Thousands of members of Tunisia's powerful UGTT trade union took to the streets of eight cities on Saturday to protest against President Kais Saied's policies, accusing him of trying to stifle basic freedoms including union rights. In Saturday's demonstrations, thousands of protesters in the southern city of Sfax carried national flags and banners with slogans including "Stop the attack on union freedoms" and "Cowardly Saied, the union is not afraid.". Senior UGTT official Othman Jalouli told the crowd Saied's government "wants to silence the voice of the union". Addressing the Sfax protest, Esther Lynch, confederal secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, said she had come to convey a message of support from 45 million European trade unionists and called for the immediate release of detained union officials.

"The situation is very dangerous because of years of continuous drought," said Hammadi Habib, an Agriculture Ministry official. Tunisia already has food supply problems thanks to high global prices and the government's own financial difficulties, which have reduced its capacity to buy imported food and subsidise farms at home. "It is time for the authorities to declare a state of water emergency," said Radhia Smine of the Tunisian Observatory of Water. Thousands of families will lack drinking water," she added. "If we do not take decisions in January to reduce irrigation water and ration water use now to prioritise drinking water... then for sure in August we will not have drinking water in the capital or coastal regions," said Habib, the agriculture ministry official.

For more than 70 days this summer, a marine heatwave cooked the waters of the western Mediterranean. "We've been witnessing marine heatwaves during the last 20 years," said Garrabou, who's also coordinator of the T-MEDNet marine monitoring network. A 2016 marine heatwave along Chile's southern coast caused huge algae blooms that wiped out fish farms and cost the aquaculture industry some $800 million, said scientist Kathryn Smith with the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. As the world warms, marine heatwaves are expected to become more frequent, according to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Though economists have yet to account fully for the impacts of marine heatwaves, recent experience has many concerned.

☆ Tunisian tattoo artist revives Berber designs for new generation
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Jihed Abidellaoui | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KAIROUAN, Tunisia, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Tunisian tattoo artist Manel Mahdouani is reviving traditional Berber designs that had long been considered unfashionable but are now gaining in popularity among a hip new generation. It's like a Facebook wall and this is my wall," she said, asking not to give her family name. As tattoos took off around the world, some younger Tunisians took up the trend, but without looking back at their own tradition of body art. Mahdouani said many Tunisians had grown to see Berber tattoos as low class or disreputable. Mahdouani has researched the traditional "tekaz" tradition of Berber tattoos, collecting designs and learning about the custom of using body art to ward off disease or bad luck through particular symbols on different parts of the body.

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