Latest Tunisia government News

Tunisian presidential candidate Lotfi Mraihi barred from contesting elections for life

Jul. 19, 2024 11:58 AM EDT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A Tunisian court on Friday sentenced a presidential candidate Lotfi Mraihi to eight months in prison and banned him from contesting elections for life, in the latest move to stifle opponents of President Kais Saied in the upcoming October election which critics call a sham....

Tunisia's opposition says politically motivated arrests and gag orders are chilling election efforts

Jul. 17, 2024 12:28 PM EDT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Leading opposition parties in Tunisia asserted Wednesday that politically motivated arrests and gag orders are creating impossible conditions for holding democratic elections later this year. Members of the National Salvation Front, a coalition of secular and...

Arrests, summonses of potential presidential candidates in Tunisia continue as election day nears

Jul. 13, 2024 13:22 PM EDT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — As elections approach in Tunisia, potential candidates are facing arrest or being summoned to appear in court as authorities clamp down on those planning to challenge President Kais Saied. On Friday, a judge in a Tunis court put a potential presidential...

Tunisia sets elections for October. The increasingly authoritarian president hasn't said he'll run

Jul. 03, 2024 09:02 AM EDT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia's increasingly authoritarian leader has scheduled the next presidential election for October without saying whether he will seek a second term after five tumultuous years at the head of the North African nation once seen as a model of democracy for the Arab world. ...

G7 summit opens with deal to use Russian assets for Ukraine as Italy flexes its right-wing muscles

Jun. 13, 2024 15:13 PM EDT

BORGO EGNAZIA, Italy (AP) — A Group of Seven summit opened Thursday with agreement reached on a U.S. proposal to back a $50 billion loan to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets as collateral, giving Kyiv a strong show of support even as Europe's political chessboard shifts to the right. ...

G7 summit opens with deal to use Russian assets for Ukraine as EU's traditional powers recalibrate

Jun. 13, 2024 06:02 AM EDT

BARI, Italy (AP) — A Group of Seven summit is opening Thursday with agreement on a U.S. proposal to back a $50 billion loan to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets as collateral, giving Kyiv a strong show of support even as Europe's political chessboard shifts to the right. ...

Stranded migrants confront violence and despair as Tunisia partners to keep them from Europe

Jun. 09, 2024 15:08 PM EDT

EL AMRA, Tunisia (AP) — For many migrants who’ve long dreamed of Europe, one of the last stops is an expanse of olive trees on North Africa's Mediterranean coastline. But in Tunisia, less than 100 miles (161 kilometers) from the Italian islands that form the European Union’s...

Tunisia sentences journalists to a year in prison for criticizing the government

May. 23, 2024 05:21 AM EDT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A Tunisian court on Wednesday sentenced two TV and radio journalists to one year in prison for criticizing the government on their programs and on social networks. Borhane Bsaïs and Mourad Zeghidi were each given six months' imprisonment for disseminating...

2 journalists in detention in Tunisia as authorities launch wave of arrests against critics

May. 15, 2024 12:15 PM EDT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Two journalists were kept under detention in Tunisia on Wednesday, following a raft of arrests targeting government critics including lawyers and the press that has drawn concern from the country's international allies. Authorities in the north African...

Tunisian lawyers call for strike over arrest of their colleague amid crackdown on dissent

May. 12, 2024 13:12 PM EDT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Hooded police raided Tunisia’s bar association headquarters and arrested a lawyer as authorities escalated a broad government crackdown that has ensnared political dissidents, non-governmental organizations and Black migrants. Sonia Dahmani, a prominent...