Waste dumped at landfill sites represents a growing threat to poor communities in Tunisia, polluting air and water supplies Salah Darghouth's frustration is visible. "You see that guy working on the ninth floor," says the adviser to Tunisia's sustainable development ministry, pointing at a labourer on the half-built tower block opposite. "He harasses me. Every day I watch him and all...
Winter bookings remained satisfactory despite disruption caused by unrest in Egypt The holiday operator Thomas Cook said on Thursday it had seen an improving trend for summer holidays since it reported first quarter results, with overall bookings up 2%. Thomas Cook, founded 173 years ago, said its winter trading had also remained satisfactory, despite the disruption to the market caused by political...
s music for the classic spaghetti western. There's drifting trumpet work on Fanfare D...
s relationship with its ex-colonies is played out in the French capital is the subject of a fascinating new book, extracted below In the late afternoon of 27 March 2007, I was travelling on the Paris metro, heading home after a day's work in the east end of the city. I got off at the Gare du Nord to change trains. In a trance – lost in the music on my headphones – I automatically made for the shopping...
s capital, killing all 11 crew and passengers on board, Tunisian authorities said. Libyan media are reporting that a jihadist leader is among the dead. Sheikh Daouedi held an official post as Libya's assistant secretary of state for martyrs, and was on the military flight to seek medical treatment in Tunis. The Antonov aircraft went down after the pilot tried to land in farmland near Grombalia, south...
s home Tatooine, the Sahara draws many obsessive travellers Deep in Tunisia's Sahara desert is an otherworldly planet familiar to Star Wars fans: Tatooine, the twin-mooned childhood home of Darth Vader. Once a pilgrimage site for aficionados of the cult sci-fi film, the dune-swept landscape that provided the backdrop for almost every Star Wars movie, among many others, has been out of reach since the...
s most progressive constitutions, say observers After decades of dictatorship and two years of arguments and compromises, Tunisia's new constitution has come into force. In a ceremony on Monday in the national assembly, the president, Moncef Marzouki, the outgoing prime minister, Ali Larayedh, and the speaker, Mustapha Ben Jaafar, signed the document while deputies sang the national anthem. In a statement,...
s uprising in 2011 was the first in the region and inspired what become known as the Arab spring."This constitution, without being perfect, is one of consensus," assembly speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar said after the vote. "We had today a new rendezvous with history to build a democracy founded on rights and equality." The constitution enshrining freedom of religion and women's rights took two years to...
s national assembly approved the country's new constitution on Sunday night in one of the final steps to full democracy, three years after protests led to the toppling of autocrat Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Just before the constitution's approval, prime minister Mehdi Jomaa named a new caretaker cabinet appointed to ease a crisis between Islamists and the secular opposition until new elections later...
s roots reach deep into Egypt's culture and economy: the WikiLeaks cables described a "large network of businesses" that made the military "a 'quasi-commercial' enterprise". It runs hospitals, builds roads, manages resorts and owns factories that produce fertilisers, cement and even cars. It employs tens of thousands of civilians and nearly half a million soldiers, often conscripts, meaning almost...
s Islamist prime minister Ali Larayedh has resigned to make way for a non-partisan caretaker government as part of a deal with his opponents to complete a transition to democracy. Three years after an uprising against autocrat Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia is in the final stages of establishing a full democracy before elections that would be a rare bright spot in an unstable region. Illustrating...
s landmark nuclear deal was tempered by continued bloodshed in Syria and the further unravelling of the Arab spring It is always hard to predict how historians will judge current events. But the rough draft for any future tally of the Middle East in 2013 must include the Geneva agreement on Iran's nuclear programme , the bloody and escalating war in Syria – and fading hopes for a happy end to the other...
s caretaker prime minister. The expectation is that the 52-year-old former industry minister will head an efficient cabinet before a new constitution is agreed and fresh elections held by the end of next year. Jomaa is a settled father of five and extremely pragmatic. He does not belong to any political party and is well known for his calm approach to government. He is also an efficient communicator...
s lives have been brought almost to a standstill by the breakdown of security over the past three years. Many poor women working in the informal sector who regularly buy their stock from large markets to sell on in their neighbourhoods are unable to make a living: commuting outside their immediate vicinity risks theft and abuse by thugs. When girls and women are harassed in public spaces, few dare...
s then president toppled after 23 years in power. Soon the flames of social protests were spreading across much of the Middle East and North Africa in what became dubbed the Arab Spring. Two notable features characterised the affected countries: each was struggling with a stagnant economy and each was home to a population of disillusioned and often unemployed (or, more frequently, underemployed) youth....
s the afternoon session at a Tunisian hammam , and this means women only, from one to six o'clock. Mornings and evenings are reserved for the other half of this town's population. A double iron door takes Hannaan and me to the dressing room, where we leave all clothes but our underwear. Another double iron door takes us, and our hammam basics, to its steamy and noisy interiors. We cross the "resting"...
s suicide attack is the first time such violence has reached a tourist area and raises fears for the country's tourism industry. Witnesses told Tunisian media that the man appeared to be about to enter the Riadh Palm hotel in Sousse, about 90 miles south of the capital, Tunis, when he exploded. The interior ministry said no one else was injured and no property was damaged. It said the bomber was a...
s first free and fair elections on 23 October 2011 . The elections created our national constituent assembly, a body elected by and for the Tunisian people to draft a constitution that would establish a democratic state based on the rule of law. A national dialogue has now begun, which is taking place amid determined attempts to derail the political process. A recent series of terrorist attacks...
s uprising in] 2011, people are daring to speak out. We're an outlet for people who can't express themselves on traditional platforms," the 29-year-old said, as he watched a rapper aim digs at politicians in a makeshift studio. Three years ago, the scene would have been unimaginable. "I worked at a local radio station and it was basically like working for a political party," Nejib explained, referring...
Italian and Maltese naval vessels have rescued hundreds of migrants whose boat capsized between Sicily and Tunisia ...