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.

Accusing him of racist comments and hate speech against sub-Saharan migrants, hundreds of people protested in the Tunisian capital on Saturday, denouncing President Kais for his outrageous remarks. Earlier this week, Saied said "hordes" of migrants were causing crime and posed demographic threat in the North African country.

"Hordes of illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa are still arriving, with all the violence, crime and unacceptable practices that entails," he said, according to a statement from his office on Tuesday evening.

The Tunisian coastguard said Sunday it had intercepted overnight more than 400 migrants trying to reach Europe by sea in 16 separate operations off the North African country's coast. "During the night between February 18 and 19, coastguard units in the centre, north and south managed to thwart 16 attempted...

Earlier in Saturday, Esther Lynch, Europe's top trade union official took part in a demonstration organized by the UGTT trade union federation and made comments that constituted blatant interference in Tunisia's internal affairs, head of the European Trade Union Confederation, the presidency said in a statement. It added that she...

SFAX, TUNISIA - Thousands of Tunisian trade unionists held protests across the country on Saturday over worsening economic woes and the arrest of a top union official.The North African country is in drawn-out talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout loan, which the powerful UGTT workers' federation has warned...

TUNIS, TUNISIA -  A goalkeeper at a top-flight Tunisian football club has reached Italy as a clandestine migrant, his club said Friday, as the dire economy pushes thousands into making similar journeys."Due to the financial crisis facing the club, and difficult living conditions (in Tunisia), the goalkeeper of Avenir Sportif de...

Washington, United States--The United States on Wednesday denounced Tunisia's arrest of critics of President Kais Saied and called for transparent legal proceedings."We're deeply concerned by the reported arrests of multiple political figures, business leaders and journalists in Tunisia in recent days," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters."We respect the aspirations...

Tensions between Algeria and France have spiked again after Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Wednesday decided to recall his country's envoy to France "for consultations". The fresh outbreak of discord was caused when Paris intervened to fly out French-Algerian activist Amira Bouraoui wanted by Algiers.

A total of 262 candidates are competing for 131 seats from Tunisia's 161-member legislature, which was largely stripped of its powers following a series of extraordinary measures launched by President Kais Saied on July 25, 2021.

TUNIS, TUNISIA - Tunisian President Kais Saied's former chief of staff was sentenced in absentia on Tuesday to prison over audio recordings critical of him, local media reported.Nadia Akacha had been a key aide to Saied until she quit in January last year, citing "fundamental differences of opinion" over the national...

Hundreds of Tunisians, including supporters of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, marched Saturday after opponents of President Kais Saied called for protests over worsening economic crisis. Ennahdha had dominated parliament until Saied grabbed power on July 25, 2021, sacking the government and freezing parliament before appointing a new cabinet and ruling...

Tunis, Tunisia - Dozens of Tunisian lawyers protested on Thursday against newly imposed taxes on legal services, part of a 2023 budget that seeks to boost revenues to the cash-strapped treasury.Led by Bar Association head Hatem Mziou, lawyers gathered outside the Palais de Justice in Tunis as well as other sites,...

Tunisian authorities are hoping to secure a nearly $2-billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund they hope will unlock other sources of international financing. Saied said the plan unveiled Tuesday, which is based on growth of 2.1 percent this year -- compared to 1.8 percent last year -- was "realistic...

TUNIS, TUNISIA - Tram and bus workers in the Tunisian capital staged a strike over delays in salaries and the lack of an end-of-year bonus Monday, creating traffic jams across Tunis.The strike is the latest in a string of similar actions as Tunisia grapples with a grinding economic crisis, with frequent...

Saied lashed out at unnamed critics, accusing such rivals of "drowning in corruption and treachery" and of "plotting against the state" and its "internal and external security". "This cannot continue, and these people cannot go unpunished," he said, in a video posted on his office's Facebook page. The president's power...

The move comes nearly seven months after President Kais Saied sacked 57 judges, accusing them of corruption and blocking enquiries into two left-wing political figures in 2013, among other purported transgressions.

The state, saddled with a crippling public wage bill and politically sensitive subsidies, is set to take in around 46.4 billion dinars ($14.8 billion), Boughdiri said. It will need to borrow some 23.5 billion dinars to cover state needs for the coming year, she added. To find the cash, it...

Tunis, Tunisia-- A Tunisian rights group condemned Sunday a "repressive and inhumane" government decision to deport a group of migrants who had been evacuated from a defunct refugee camp.The 25 men from Egypt, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan had sought asylum in Tunisia after fleeing violence in neighbouring Libya in 2011, but...

The Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) "notes the very low level of participation in the elections, which destroys their credibility and legitimacy and clearly confirms the public's rejection" of Saied's programme, it said in a statement. The current political situation "requires the UGTT to assume its national duty and take...

The MENA region remains largely uneven, and the democracy and human rights situation looks bleak with little prospect of improvement in 2023, say experts at International IDEA.

Dubai, UAE--The European Investment Bank has granted Tunisia a 216 million ($229 million) loan to support its food security and power infrastructure.The Tunisian government signed an agreement with the bank, under which 150 million euros will be granted to support its food security. Under another agreement, signed with the Tunisian...

Algiers, Algeria--France said Sunday it had ended months of tensions over a visa dispute with Algeria, just days after Paris and Rabat made a similar announcement.French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, on a visit to the capital Algiers, announced a return "to a normal consular relationship" with Algeria, according to a statement...

Tunis, Tunisia--Tunisians on Saturday overwhelmingly boycotted an election for a new parliament which will have virtually no authority following a power grab by President Kais Saied in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.Electoral board president Farouk Bouasker said that by close of polls at 6:00 pm (1700 GMT), just 8.8...

Slimane Bouhafs "has been sentenced to three years in prison without parole" and a fine of 100,000 dinars ($727), said the National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees (CNLD). Bouhafs, in his 50s, was accused of having contacts with Farhat Mehenni, the exiled head of the Movement for the Autonomy...

Over a decade since the country's revolution that unseated dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, opposition parties have urged a boycott of the poll, which they say is part of a "coup" against the only democracy to have emerged from the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. The election for the new...

The judge presiding over the hearing in a US District Court in Washington read the 71-year-old Masud the charges and his rights before ordering him held without bond until a detention hearing on December 27. The balding and white-bearded Masud was provided with an Arabic interpreter for the hearing, his...

Subsidies on basic goods are a highly sensitive political issue in Tunisia, where a public finance crisis has caused repeated shortages of subsidised flour, sugar and other basic goods. Tunisia is in the grip of a grinding economic downturn exacerbated by inflation that hit 9.8 percent year-on-year in December, according...

Erige Sehiri says her film relates the secrets, love stories and resentments of the mostly female orchard workers who live in the countryside but are "modern and connected".

Europe's biggest economy, with its low birth rate, is crying out for labour, and many Tunisians, exhausted by years of economic crisis, see an opportunity.

Tunis, Tunisia—The speaker of Tunisia's dissolved parliament appeared on Monday before a judge investigating accusations his party helped Tunisian jihadists travel to fight in Iraq and Syria. Rached Ghannouchi, an arch-rival of President Kais Saied and also head of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, arrived in the morning at the anti-terror court...

In order to shore up its economy battered by the Covid pandemic and political turmoil, the EU has signed off on a $103 million grant to cash-strapped Tunisia. The grant, according to EU, aims to support economic recovery efforts and consolidate the progress already made in distributing social aid.

At the launch in 2013, organizers of the Al-Hamada rally had envisioned an annual event, yet this year's episode is only the third to get beyond the starting line.

DOHA, QATAR - Qatar plans to open a new center in Jordan for issuing visas in the near future, in order to complete procedures for acquiring Work Residence Permit. The Qatari Ministry of Interior said five new centers for Qatar visas will soon be opened in Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Kenya...

Hamadi started a decade ago by gathering donations to buy 50 solar water heaters and 140 photovoltaic panels.

Authorities also said they had detained 48 people, including six already wanted for allegedly "joining a gang in order to illegally cross borders". The interior ministry had announced the arrests of more than 1,300 suspected people traffickers, both Tunisian and of other nationalities, in recent days.

Subsidies on basic goods are a highly sensitive political issue in Tunisia, where a public finance crisis has caused repeated shortages of subsidised flour, sugar and other basic goods in recent months. The North African country is years into a grinding economic downturn exacerbated by inflation that hit nine percent...

The agreement in principle, reached between IMF staff and Tunisian authorities meeting this week in Washington, still requires the approval of the Fund's board, which is scheduled to discuss the matter in December.

Demanding his resignation, tens of thousand of demonstrators in Tunis denounced a power grab by President Kais Saied, chanting "Down, down," "Revolution against dictator Kais" and "The coup will fall." In July last year, Kais staged a dramatic power grab and later pushed through a constitution enshrining his one-man rule.

Tunis, Tunisia— Tunisian mourners clashed with security forces on Friday after the death of a young man from injuries sustained during a police chase a month ago. Protestors threw rocks at security forces after Malek Sellimi's funeral in the working-class neighborhood of Upper Omran on the edges of Tunis, according to...

Nearly 200 migrants attempting to reach Europe across the Mediterranean Sea were intercepted by Tunisian coastguards over the weekend. In what is being called "rescues" the authorities launched nine separate operations off the southern and north-eastern coast to bring them to the shore.

Tunis--As dawn breaks over the Mediterranean, Tunisian coastguards intercept a flimsy craft packed with migrants, bringing their dream of reaching Europe to an end -- for now. "This is your final warning: stop!" an officer shouts. Some two dozen migrants, wearing inflated inner tubes as makeshift life preservers, look downcast...

The 28-year-old, whose ambition is "to be a good example for all the young people who follow her" has won three WTA titles including two this year in Madrid and Berlin.

Tunisia, the only democracy to remain a democracy after the Arab Spring, may turn authoritarian if a draft constitution published recently is approved.

Ennahdha categorically denies the claims that its leader, Rached Ghannouchi, and Tunisia's former prime minister Ali Laarayedh were involved in sending jihadist militants to Syria and Iraq. The accusations have resurfaced after President Kais Saied tightened his grip on the judiciary, following the suspension of the Ennahdha-dominated parliament last year.