Tunisia

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An Arab Spring First: Tunisia Votes

But many parties face accusations of shady financing

(Newser) - With Tunisians voting today in the Middle East's first elections since the dawn of the Arab Spring, analysts and citizens alike are looking to the vote for a sense of where Tunisia and democracy in the region might be heading, reports the AP . Tunisia's 7.5 million voters...

Tunisia Fires Tear Gas at Protestors

'We need another revolution,' says one as reformers grow restless

(Newser) - Cops in Tunisia today fired tear gas and used truncheons to break up an assembly of protestors outside Interior Ministry headquarters in Tunis. The mob called for a shutdown of the caretaker government and vigorous prosecution of supporters of ex-president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, who was forced out of...

Libyan Interior Minister Appears to Have Defected

Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah arrives in Egypt with family

(Newser) - Libya's interior minister and nine of his family members flew into Cairo today on their private plane in what appeared to be the highest level defection from Moammar Gadhafi's regime in months. Egyptian airport officials said Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah entered on a tourist visa. No Libyan embassy officials...

Tunisia Ex-Prez Gets Another 15 Years

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali convicted of smuggling guns, drugs, artifacts

(Newser) - Two weeks ago, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his wife were sentenced in absentia to 35 years in prison and ordered to pay a $65.5 million fine. Today, a court convicted the former Tunisian president of smuggling drugs, guns, and archaeological artifacts and sentenced him to 15.5...

Suu Kyi: In Arab Spring, Burma's Revolution

Previous BBC lecturers; Bertrand Russel, J. Robert Oppenheimer

(Newser) - Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has delivered a prestigious annual BBC radio lecture, telling an international audience that her compatriots are envious of people in Tunisia and Egypt, where long-serving dictators have been toppled. On recordings smuggled out of Myanmar, also known as Burma, and broadcast today,...

Tunisia Ex-Prez Gets 35 Years, $65.6M Fine

Ben Ali and wife convicted in absentia

(Newser) - Tunisia took less than a day to convict its deposed former ruler, reports Reuters, sentencing Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his wife in absentia to 35 years in prison and ordering them to pay fines totaling $65.5 million. The convictions revolve around theft and unlawful possession of cash...

Trial of Tunisia's Former President Begins

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali faces charges of drug trafficking, abusing state funds

(Newser) - Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s trial begins today, making the former Tunisian president the first deposed Middle East leader to face trial in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings. Ben Ali, who will be tried in absentia, faces charges including abusing state funds, drug trafficking, and illegal arms...

Romney: Obama Threw Israel 'Under the Bus'

Others complain about foreign aid to Egypt

(Newser) - President Obama is taking some heat for his speech on Middle Eastern policy , particularly the section on Israel, in which he advocated a return to Israel’s pre-1967 borders . “President Obama has thrown Israel under the bus,” Mitt Romney declared in a statement. “He has disrespected Israel...

President Obama Mideast Speech: We Stand Behind Mideast Protesters
 Obama: 
 We Stand 
 Behind Arab 
 Protesters 


MIDEAST POLICY SPEECH

Obama: We Stand Behind Arab Protesters

Back Mideast peace deal based on 1967 borders

(Newser) - President Obama gave a wide-ranging speech on the Middle East today, speaking out forcefully in support of Arab protesters everywhere—even in US allies like Yemen and Bahrain. “After decades of accepting the world as it is in the region we have a chance to pursue the world as...

Gadhafi's Wife, Daughter Flee to Tunisia

They reportedly crossed the border a few days ago

(Newser) - Another sign things are getting dicier for Moammar Gadhafi: His second wife, Safia, and daughter Aisha quietly crossed the border into Tunisia a few days ago, reports Reuters . Few other details were available, and the Libyan government has not confirmed. The move follows a NATO strike last May that killed...

Tunisia Furious After Libya Battle Crosses Border

But country is perfectly welcoming to Libyan refugees

(Newser) - Tunisia was not pleased today when a battle between Libya’s warring factions spilled across the border today, after Moammar Gadhafi’s forces attacked a rebel-held frontier crossing. The incursion was brief and limited, and Gadhafi’s forces even apologized locally, Reuters reports. But Tunisia’s foreign ministry still issued...

Tunisian Slap That Triggered Arab Unrest 'Didn't Happen'

Family forgives policewoman for 'slap heard 'round the world'

(Newser) - The case against the Tunisian policewoman who inadvertently sparked a wave of protests across the Arab world has been dropped. Vegetable seller Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest after Fadia Hamdi allegedly slapped him in the face and confiscated his wares in December. President Zine El Abidine Ben...

Thomas Friedman: Stop Wasting $100 Billion a Year on Afghanistan, Pakistan Regimes
 Stop Wasting $110B 
 a Year on These Turkeys 
THOMAS FRIEDMAN

Stop Wasting $110B a Year on These Turkeys

As Arabs spread democracy, we prop up Afghan, Pakistan regimes

(Newser) - Democracy is on the march across the Arab world, so "What are we doing spending $110 billion this year supporting corrupt and unpopular regimes in Afghanistan and Pakistan that are almost identical to the governments we’re applauding the Arab people for overthrowing?" asks Thomas Friedman in the New ...

Tunisia Appoints New PM
 Tunisia Appoints New PM 

Tunisia Appoints New PM

al-Qaeda urges Tunisians, Egyptians to rebel against new leaders

(Newser) - Interim Tunisian President Foued Mebazaa has appointed a new prime minister following the resignation of Mohammed Ghannouchi, who bowed to protesters' demands and stepped down yesterday, the BBC reports. Former foreign minister Beji Caid-Essebsi will take Ghannouchi's place, although it's not clear whether the appointment will be enough to mollify...

In Revolution, Dignity Returns to Arab World

After decades of repression, Arabs feel liberated, as one

(Newser) - There's blood and chaos in the revolutions wracking the Arab world, but there's also a new dignity and hope rising from the smoldering ashes of years of repression, reports Jeffrey Fleischman in the LA Times. Such feelings were an important part of the pan-Arabism of the 1950s, but decades of...

Tunisian PM Announces Resignation

Mohamed Ghannouchi was close to former government

(Newser) - Tunisian Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi has announced his resignation today on state television after a renewed outbreak of street violence in the North African country in the past few days. Ghannouchi, 69, has been a major irritant to Tunisians behind the so-called "Jasmine Revolution"—weeks of public upheaval...

Tunisia's Ousted Ben Ali in Coma

Exiled strongman in grave condition after suffering stroke, sources say

(Newser) - Warning: Losing power may be bad for your health. Exiled Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been hospitalized in Saudi Arabia after suffering a stroke on Tuesday and, according to some sources, is in a coma, the Guardian reports. The 74-year-old was forced to flee Tunisia last month...

Tunisian Police Kill 2, Injure 17

Protest turned violent after police chief slapped a woman

(Newser) - Two people were killed by police gunfire and 17 were injured in northwestern Tunisia yesterday, after a local police chief allegedly slapped a woman during a demonstration, causing protesters to turn against the police. About 1,000 people threw stones and small firebombs at the local police station, burning two...

France Seizes Booted Tunisia's Leader's Jet

EU freezes Ben Ali's assets

(Newser) - Life isn't getting any easier for ousted Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. French authorities seized a private jet believed to belong to the Ben Ali family yesterday after three organizations launched a legal case accusing the strongman of corruption, the BBC reports. European Union foreign ministers have agreed...

Al-Jazeera Seizes Its Moment
 Al-Jazeera Seizes Its Moment 

Al-Jazeera Seizes Its Moment

The Qatar-based channel is tapping Arab anger around the Middle East

(Newser) - Protests are spreading across the Middle East, from Tunisia to Egypt to Yemen, and the common thread in all of them is al-Jazeera, reports the New York Times . The Qatar-based news outlet has been aggressively reporting on all the unrest around the region, helping to shape a story of populist...

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