The president met with a string of leaders from the Arab world and the European Union and discussed ways to deepen partnerships with these countries. During the meetings, Sheikh Mohamed explored ways with the leaders to support and develop these relations for the benefit of the people of all countries...

TABARKA, TUNISIA - Firefighters in Tunisia are battling a major blaze that has raged for two days in a pine forest near the border with Algeria, a civil defense official said on Thursday. Regional civil defense director Abdel Laabidi told AFP that around 470 hectares (1,100 acres) of forest had already...

Many journalists at the Libyan-Tunisian border saw migrants who were visibly exhausted and dehydrated, sitting or lying on the sand and using shrubs to try and shield themselves from the scorching summer heat that topped 40 degrees Celsius. The group were in an uninhabited area close to Al-Assah, a town...

The deal between the two countries will include partnership on irregular migration, economic development and renewable energy. Tunisia has been criticized over its treatment of migrants after President Kais Saied accused "hordes" of migrants from sub-Saharan African countries of a "plot" to change the country's demographic makeup.

Hundreds of migrants fled or were forced out of Tunisia's second-largest city after racial tensions flared following the July 3 killing of a Tunisian man in an altercation between locals and migrants. The port of Sfax is a departure point for many migrants from impoverished and violence-torn countries seeking a...

Around 100 protesters rallied in Tunisia's capital to demand freedom for detained critics of President Kais Saied who has ruled largely by decree for the past two years. The demonstrators, including detainees' relatives, gathered outside the Court of Appeal in Tunis to protest the continued detention of 20 high-profile political,...

Racial tensions flared into violence against migrants from sub-Saharan African countries in Tunisia's port city of Sfax last week, with hundreds fleeing or being pushed to inhospitable southern desert border areas. "All of the 500 to 700 migrants who were at the Libyan border have been transferred elsewhere," Salsabil Chellali...

One of the three, whose identities and nationalities were not given, was sentenced to life in prison and the other two to 20 years each. Considered to be the first convictions in Libya in human trafficking cases, the court found the three guilty of "trafficking in human beings" and having...

Hundreds of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have been left stranded in dire conditions in the south of Tunisia since being driven out of the port city of Sfax in the past week. The rights group's statement comes against a backdrop of violence after the funeral of a 41-year-old Tunisian man...

In early June, European Union countries reached agreement on a long-stalled revision of the bloc's asylum rules. It aims to share the burden of hosting asylum seekers across EU countries, with those refusing to do so having to pay money to the ones that do. Poland and Hungary, which were...

Sharjah, UAE--Sharjah Football Company has signed Mohamed Firas Belarbi, the Tunisian international defender, from the Ajman Club for an undisclosed sum. Regarded as one of the most effective attacking midfielders in the UAE championships over the past two seasons, Belarbi has an impressive track record. His remarkable contributions during the...

The financial assistance would allow Tunisia to "acquire the necessary equipment and organize useful training, in particular for Tunisian police and border guards", French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. He defended the "European approach to the migration challenge" and said that alongside African authorities, they would "fight against the networks...

The EU offered a 900-billion-euro aid package -- contingent on Tunisia reaching an IMF deal. But Tunisian President Kais Saied has repeatedly refused "diktats" from the IMF and the US has led accusations that the birthplace of the Arab Spring is falling to authoritarianism after the dissolution of parliament and...

The EU is ready to offer Tunisia a 900-million-euro package plus 150 million euros in immediate support, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said. Aside from trade and investment, it would help Tunisia with border management and to combat human trafficking, with support worth 100 million euros this year,...

"Discussions will focus on the bilateral relations between the EU and to Tunisia," Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said. "An agreement on cooperation in the areas of the economy, energy and migration will be at the heart of those discussions."

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Rome backed efforts to secure an IMF bailout for Tunisia and support to tackle its growing migrant problem. She was speaking after talks in Tunis with President Kais Saied whose country is going through a dire financial crisis, political tensions. Tunisia is also a...

Despite reaching an agreement in principle last October on a bailout package worth nearly $2 billion, talks with the IMF have stalled for months over demands to restructure public bodies and lift subsidies on basic goods. Saied said during a meeting with Prime Minister Najla Bouden that the current subsidy...

New methods such as permaculture are especially useful in Tunisia where an unprecedented drought has parched the countryside and left water reservoirs at dangerously low levels this spring.

TUNIS, TUNISIA - Tunisia's largest union on Monday attacked the government's handling of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a loan to bail out the North African country as it slides deeper into debt. Tunisia is seeking a bailout package worth nearly $2 billion from the IMF, which conditions...

Tunis, Tunisia -- President Kais Saied has called for the revival of Tunisia's phosphate industry, suggesting he will seek alternative sources of revenue that would allow the country to do without a foreign bailout. "Our gold is underground while the country is facing a difficult financial situation," Saied told a meeting...

"We came to send a message to the whole world that with this normalization, you will gain Bashar al-Assad the criminal, and you will lose the Syrian people," said Abdel Salam Mohammed Yussef, who heads a camp for displaced people.

Condemning the arrests of political opponents in Tunisia, the US government on Wednesday said that respect for freedom of expression and human rights are essential "to the US-Tunisia relationship." The condemnation follows the arrest on Monday of former Speaker of Parliament Rached Ghannouchi and the closure of the Ennahdha party...

Tunis, Tunisia - Fifteen Tunisian migrants are missing after their boat sank in the Mediterranean during an attempt to reach Europe, authorities said Wednesday. The boat carrying 19 Tunisians sank Monday night, said a statement by Tunisia's National Guard, which oversees the coastguard. Four migrants were rescued by a fisherman after...

The move came a day after the arrest of the party's leader, Rached Ghannouchi, 81, at his home in the capital Tunis, the latest in a string of opposition figures held. Ennahdha was the largest party in Tunisia's parliament before President Kais Saied dissolved the chamber in July 2021.

Tunis, Tunisia -- A professional footballer in Tunisia has died after setting himself alight earlier this week in what he said was a protest against the "police state" ruling the country, his brother said Friday. Nizar Issaoui, 35, suffered third-degree burns from his action in the village of Haffouz in the...

Tunisia has recovered 14 bodies of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa in the Mediterranean, bringing to 24 the number of dead after their boat headed for Europe sank, the coastguard said. The spokesman for the National Guard announced that 41 Tunisian migrants, including five women and nine children, had been "rescued"...

Tunisia reached a deal in principle in October with the IMF for nearly $2 billion to shore up its sinking economy but the bailout still needs approval by the IMF board, which is pressing for reforms, primarily on the economy. Tunisia is heavily indebted and facing high inflation and unemployment.

Even before the roasting summer months, the soil is dry and dusty in the small Mediterranean country, whose water resources are steadily depleting as climate change intensifies. With some Tunisian water reservoirs almost completely dry, authorities imposed emergency measures last month, rationing household supplies and banning water use for washing...

They were among 37 people aboard the vessel which had left from Tunisia's coast and then "sank on Friday afternoon", Faouzi Masmoudi, the court spokesman in Sfax city, told AFP, adding that 17 people were rescued.

TUNIS, TUNISIA - Tunisia's coastguard said Friday it had intercepted over 14,000 migrants trying to reach Europe from January to March, more than five times the number of those who attempted the trip in the first quarter of 2022. "Coast guard patrols prevent 501 clandestine attempts to cross the maritime border...

The IMF was originally expected to approve a bailout deal on December 19, but that was delayed pending a Tunisian budget, which has since passed, and a law to stop banks charging excessive interest.

Speaking alongside Prime Minister Najla Bouden, the president said the reports reflected "a level of madness never seen before in Tunisia". Earlier on Monday, Ahmed Nejib Chebbi of the National Salvation Front opposition coalition told journalists: "We ask the government to address the Tunisian people and say if the president...

TUNIS, TUNISIA - Tunisia's main opposition coalition pressed the government on Monday to explain days-long public "absence" of President Kais Saied, saying it had information that he was sick. Saied, 65, has not appeared in public or held any meetings since March 22, according to posts on his Facebook page -...

The country's dams are at critical lows following years of drought, exacerbated by pipeline leaks in a decrepit distribution network. The agriculture ministry announced a ban on the use of potable water for irrigating farmland or green spaces, or for cleaning public areas or cars.

Calling for "constructive discourse" from the European Union after many leaders warned the country is facing a crisis that could impact the 27-member bloc, Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar said that he had invited the European side to "show more understanding of this particular phase through which our country is...

Several shipwrecks have left dozens of migrants dead in the country that serves as a key conduit for migrants seeking to reach nearby European shores. It comes after President Kais Saied made an incendiary speech last month, accusing sub-Saharan Africans of representing a demographic threat and causing a crime wave...

The boat carrying 38 people had set off Thursday from near Sfax and was attempting to reach Italy, said Fawzi El Masmoudi, a court spokesman in the port city. Sub-Saharan African migrants residing in Tunisia have been living in fear since an incendiary speech by President Kais Saied speech last...

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had warned Monday that if crisis-torn Tunisia "collapses economically or socially then we will be in a situation where new flows of migrants will come to Europe". An EU delegation arrived in Tunisia on Tuesday to examine "the political and socio-economic situation" and...

Taoufik Charfeddine, a close aide of Tunisia's President and the country's interior minister, has announced his resignation in order to spend more time with his three children in the wake of the death of his wife last year. His wife died in a fire caused by a gas leak in...

State television broadcast the proceedings and only official media were permitted to cover the session, with representatives of Tunisia's private press and foreign journalists denied access, according to an AFP correspondent. "What is happening is dangerous and reflects the authorities' unjustified distrust of the media," Amira Mohamed, deputy head of...

Tunisia inaugurated a new parliament largely stripped of its powers, after a vote that saw a paltry turnout amid boycotts following President Kais Saied's July 2021 power grab. The new assembly held its first session at the legislature's traditional home in Bardo, a suburb of the capital Tunis.

Tunisia expelled Syria's ambassador in 2012 over the bloody repression of opponents of President Bashar al-Assad at the outset of the country's civil war. The diplomatic rupture, undertaken when former president Moncef Marzouki was still in office, was strongly criticised by the opposition at the time. In 2015, Tunisia took...

Tunis, Tunisia--More than 1,000 Africans trying to reach Europe have been rescued in a single night off Tunisia, the coast guard said Friday, after a wave of violence against black migrants. Last month President Kais Saied ordered officials in the North African country to take "urgent measures" to tackle irregular migration,...

The councils were seen as a key democratic gain after the 2011 revolt that sparked the Arab Spring. Saied sacked the government in a 2021 power grab, and has since scrapped the post-revolution constitution, neutered parliament and seized far-reaching executive powers.

Reacting to howls of condemnation his controversial comments have ignited, Tunisia's President Kais Saied on Wednesday denied racism. Last month, the president ordered officials to take "urgent measures" to tackle irregular migration, claiming that a "criminal plot" was underway to change Tunisia's demographic makeup.

Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa faced violence and many were made homeless since Saied ordered "urgent measures" against them. In response, World Bank defers a key board meeting on Tunisia.

Denouncing Saied's power grab as a "coup", the protesters defied a ban on demonstrations imposed by Tunis authorities. Initially dozens gathered by a key bus and tramway station in central Tunis before charging police barricades to then march towards Habib Bourguiba Avenue, where the crowd soon swelled to more than...

Warning the country's powerful trade union federation against inviting foreigners to a planned weekend demonstration, Tunisian President Kais Saied said that the UGTT was free to organize demonstrations, but it was not free to invite foreigners to participate in them, after denying entry into the country to an official from...

A week after President Kais Saied ordered "urgent measures" against irregular sub-Saharan migrants, Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur has spoken out against "discrimination". In a tweet Jabeur said that as a proud Tunisian, Arab and African woman she celebrates the right of everyone to live with dignity.

A steady flow of taxis has rolled up outside the Ivorian embassy in Tunis in recent days, depositing dozens of migrants who say they no longer feel safe amid an officially sanctioned climate of fear.