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Migrant Lives

A New Risk For Migrants Crossing The Mediterranean: Cheap Metal Boats

In the Sfax region, migrants are mostly using artisanal metal boats to cross the Mediterranean. Leaked European Union documents reveal the role these vessels play in the increase in migration flows from Tunisia and the dangers they pose for migrants.

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Geopolitics

Tunisia-Syria-Tunisia, The Human Tide Of Jihadists Is Turning Again

Following the collapse of the Assad regime, Tunisia and other countries are concerned about the return of thousands of jihadist nationals believed to have been held in Syria. Amid overcrowded prisons and fears of extremism, what are governments in Tunis and other Arab countries doing to prepare for their potential return?

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Society

Why HIV Keeps Spreading In Tunisia

Although HIV infections are on the rise in Tunisia, only 25% of people living with the virus are receiving treatment. Access to care remains limited due to societal norms that stifle discussions around sexual health and structural deficiencies in the healthcare system, thereby fueling a preventable epidemic.

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Geopolitics

Taking Down Tyrants — Can Syria Learn From The Arab World’s Past Mistakes?

The direction of Syria’s new rulers remains uncertain, but examples of transitions in Iraq, Egypt, Libya or Tunisia after the fall of their dictators highlight the pitfalls to avoid. Will Syria be able to escape them?

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Society Women Worldwide

Abortion And The U.S. Election: Women Of The World Are Watching

A landmark decision last year by the Mexican Supreme Court is part of a push in Latin America to expand abortion access. But as seen by the U.S. overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022 and the presidential election in November of this year the issue is moving in different directions around the world.

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Geopolitics

Saied Landslide: Tunisian President’s Reelection Cements Strongman Rule

With results in Sunday’s election showed Kais Saied winning the election by a landslide, Tunisia may have definitively returned to dictatorship and closed a chapter on democracy in the Arab world that began a generation ago on the streets of Tunis. Daraj took a pre-election look at what it means for the people who live there.

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Society Women Worldwide

Facing A Surge In Femicides, Tunisian Authorities Tell Women To Keep Quiet

Associations and activists in Tunisia are taking to the streets to express their anger and condemn a surge in gender-motivated violence in the country, where one femicide occurs every two weeks.

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Geopolitics Ideas

Algerian And Tunisian Elections, Twin Sagas Of Democratic Regression

In both Algeria and Tunisia, societies were on the move to demand change. In two presidential elections scheduled so close together, on Saturday in Algeria and next month in Tunisia, the powers that be made sure that nothing would change.

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Geopolitics Migrant Lives Society Women Worldwide

Limbo In Tunisia, Where Sudanese Refugee Women Can’t Get Basic Healthcare

Hundreds of thousands of migrants are in limbo in Tunisia, which has in recent years become a major transit point for migrants fleeing conflicts and poverty in Africa and the Middle East for better lives in Europe. Women in particular lack basic rights, including sexual and reproductive health services.

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Society

The Fight To Save Tunisia’s Ancient Troglodyte Villages

Tunisian troglodyte villages in the Dahar mountain range are mostly empty as a result of policies dating back several decades. But locals, concerned about losing part of their identity and history, are mobilizing to maintain a presence and to safeguard their heritage.

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Society Women Worldwide

Secret Abortion In The Arab World: A Lebanese Woman Shares Her Story

In Lebanon, as in many countries in the Arab world, abortion is criminalized, leaving women with few safe options to end a pregnancy. In the Beirut-based independent digital media Daraj, Nour, 20, shares her story of learning she was pregnant out of wedlock and seeking a secret medical abortion.

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In The News

Tunisia Needs Real Reform To Break A Ruinous Economic Cycle

The European Commission has committed €100 million to support Tunisia in the effort against migration, with an affectional €900 million in funding for the country. But how does the agreement expect to find success with a formula that has long held a reputation of failure?

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Geopolitics Migrant Lives

Lampedusa, The Far Right’s Favorite European Island

The European migrant crisis is once again making headlines, this time from the small island of Lampedusa, Italy. It exposes not only the far right’s eagerness to exploit the issue of immigration, but also the delicate balance of power in electoral terms.

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Migrant Lives Society

Awaiting Deportation, Migrants In Italy Are “Kept Quiet” With Sedative Drugs

Before being deported from Italy, undocumented migrants are detained in Repatriation Detention Centers, where they are often sedated with powerful psychotropic drugs, according to this investigative report by Altreconomia, in collaboration with Inkyfada.

Categories
Economy

Why Oil-Rich Algeria Can’t Extract Itself From Dire Poverty

Algeria faces a real risk or going bankrupt by 2029. How did it come to this, in one of the world’s leading hydrocarbon producers?

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Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

A Key New Ally For Russia That Makes The West Cringe: Tunisia

Tunis and Moscow have been increasingly close — at the cost of relations with the West, which had once looked to Tunisia as a model of democracy. The two countries are brought together by Kremlin’s efforts to woo African countries, but also a natural alliance of its strongman Presidents Putin and Saïed.

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In The News

Tunisian Frankenstein? Strongman President Accused Of Censorship At Book Fair

The recently completed 37th International Book Fair in Tunis became a flashpoint of growing concerns that Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed is cracking down on freedom of speech.

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Economy Geopolitics

Tunisia, Between Arab Spring Nostalgia And An Age-Old Dilemma Of Democracy

The arrest this week of top opposition leaders shows Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed is drifting ever farther away from basic democratic practices. Yet there’s no mass uprising, unlike in 2011, perhaps because economic factors are foremost on people’s minds.

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Geopolitics

Violence In Sudan, And One More Democratic Uprising In Vain

More than a decade after the Arab Spring gave hope of a wave of democracy in North Africa and beyond, the violence that has erupted in Sudan squashes hope in that troubled nation of a democratic future.

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Geopolitics Ideas

The African Union Must Take A Stand On Tunisian President’s Racist Tactics

Tunisia’s president has risen to power on the back of populism that suggests black people are trying to replace Arabs. The African Union has not intervened, begging the question of what is its purpose.

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Geopolitics Migrant Lives

Another World Leader Stokes Racist Fears Of Immigration — In Tunisia

Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed’s xenophobic claims that a conspiracy aims to replace Tunisians with sub-Saharan migrants has unleashed racist violence in the country. It’s a sign of the growing authoritarianism of the popular but powerless president.

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In The News

France And North Africa: The Whiff Of Neo-Colonialism Has Returned

Whether it’s in Tunis, Algiers or Rabat, France is faced with the near-impossible task of finding its diplomatic footing in countries that were under its colonial rule last century.

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Migrant Lives

Across Africa, Families Of Migrants Lost At Sea Join Forces For Comfort And Justice

In West and North Africa, survivors of migrants who’ve vanished have come together to support each other and pay tribute to their family members. But above all, they’re trying any means possible to find out the truth and get justice after years of silence.

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Geopolitics

Tunisia’s New Constitution And Risks Of A Return To “Presidential Dictatorship”

In the cradle of the Arab Spring, democracy is once again at stake.

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In The News

Tunisia’s Drift From Democratic Revolution To Authoritarianism

The Tunisian president is cultivating his ambiguities and pushing his constitutional reform, without proposing a roadmap to get the country out of the crisis. Refusing to speak to the media, he has an increasingly populist tone with messianic accents.

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In The News

“Milder” Omicron, Tiananmen Statue Dismantled, Dylan’s Decorations

? העלא* Welcome to Thursday where some hopeful reports on the effects of the new COVID variant, a new symbolic crackdown takes place in Hong Kong and the Bard of Malibu phones it in when it comes to Christmas decorations. We also feature a report from Warsaw daily Gazeta Wyborcza on the deteriorating conditions for […]

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In The News

“Less Severe” Omicron, Suu Kyi Sentenced, Buried By Volcano

? Xin chào!* Welcome to Monday, where Aung San Suu Kyi gets sentenced to four years, there’s some positive news about the Omicron variant and a one-time Bill Clinton rival dies at the age of 98. We also explore the growing battles between parents and teachers in Tunisia, once hailed for its “golden age of […]

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In The News

Teachers v. Parents: The End Of Tunisia’s “Golden Age” Of Education

Violence against teachers, poorly received educational reforms, conflicts with parents: In Tunisia, the entire education sector is in crisis.

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Geopolitics Ideas Society

Tunisia, An Ambiguous Role Model For Women’s Rights In The Arab World

Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed caused a stir by appointing Najla Bouden, the first female head of government in the Arab world. But as the president has assumed full powers a decade after the launch of the Arab Spring, it is a choice with a mixed message.

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In The News

Germany’s Close Race, San Marino Approves Abortion Legalization, Turtle At Airport

? Laphi!* Welcome to Monday, where post-Merkel Germany looks set shift to a center-left coalition, San Marino and Switzerland catch up with the rest of Europe on two key social issues, and a turtle slows things down at a Japan airport. Meanwhile, we take an international look at different ways to handle beloved, yet controversial, […]

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Geopolitics Ideas

Tunisia, Where The Arab Spring Blossomed And Democracy Now Withers

North Africa correspondent Frédéric Bobin analyzes Tunisian President Kais Saied’s recent decision to suspend parliament and sack Prime Minister Mechichi and what it means for the legacy of the Arab Spring — for Tunisia and for the region.

Categories
In The News

African LGBTQ Activists Fight To Undo Colonial Legacy

Both north and south of the Sahara, Africa’s gay, lesbian and trans activists are fighting for their rights … and for many, that means returning to a much earlier history.

Categories
Society

Femicide In Tunisia: Why A New Law Couldn’t Crack The Patriarchy

A recent spousal killing in El Kef demonstrates how vulnerable Tunisian women remain despite the introduction, four years ago, of a law specifically designed to protect them.

Categories
In The News

Ten Years Later, How Arab Spring Delusion Feeds Islamist Rise

When Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in December 2010, it first triggered a wave of revolts, then hopes of a historic liberalization in Arab countries. But the doors of democracy, barely half-opened, have been shut ever since.

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Geopolitics Society

The Solitude Of Sicily’s Tunisian Wives And Widows

Most Tunisian men in the Sicilian port town of Mazara del Vallo work in the fishing industry. But while they’re out at sea, their wives stay home, where the rules of tradition leave little room for integration.

Categories
Economy Future

In Tunisia, A Digital Revolution For Agriculture Takes Root

A new crop of Tunisian engineers are coming up with clever ways to help farmers streamline their operations and adjust to a changing climate.

Categories
In The News

The Latest: HK Security Law Trial, Last Miami Building Victim, Tesla Record

Welcome to Tuesday, where the first person charged under Hong Kong’s national security law is found guilty, the final victim of the Miami building collapse is identified, and Tesla reports skyrocketing profits. Meanwhile, The Conversation offers a deep dive into the Australia vs. UNESCO spat over the decision to list the Great Barrier Reef as […]

Categories
In The News

In Tunisia, Women’s Healthcare Is Collateral Damage Of COVID-19

The pandemic added an extra layer of obstacles for patients with already limited access to quality attention for their sexual and reproductive health needs.

Categories
In The News

The Struggle To Track Shifting Mediterranean Migrant Routes

A top prosecutor in Sicily informed the UN in a recent report that so-called ‘phantom landings’ — vessels that reach the island undetected — are on the rise.

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blog Food / Travel

Carthage Must (Not) Be Destroyed

Carthago delenda est. “Carthage must be destroyed.” As I was wandering the ruins of the ancient capital (near modern-day Tunis) I had Cato’s famous oratorical phrase stuck in my head … Clearly a remnant of my Latin-learning years!

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