First Independent Mena Newspaper
The Pew Research Centre has recently compiled the results of its research on the opinions of people in different countries across the MENA region on the way women dress. Respondents from seven MENA countries – Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia – were asked which of the six styles of Muslim women’s […]
The 14th of January marked the third year anniversary of the Tunisian revolution which went to sweep the North Africa and the Middle East. There was little to celebrate about on the day due to violence which marred the country. The constitution also missed its deadline once more as voting continues in the Assembly. Tunisians […]
After meeting a number of ministers and representatives of UNICA, Tunisian Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh announced during a press conference earlier in January that all new taxes and fees imposed on vehicles by the 2014 budget would be suspended until further notice. Prime Minister added that the government opted for suspending of several fees on […]
Tunisian authorities are under pressure to reduce the hardship on the population as public protests continue to increase. The government said it is trying to convince the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for half a billion dollar loan in order to take the necessary actions. The looming elections could slow IMF’s decision. Finance Minister Ilyas Fakhfakh […]
Tunisia’s constitutional assembly voted earlier this week to enshrine gender equality in its draft constitution, upholding the country’s status as having one of the Arab world’s most progressive laws on women’s right. The text enshrining the equality between men and women was approved by a large majority of 159 lawmakers out of the 169 who […]
The ongoing voting of the constitutional articles is surrounded with great enthusiasm and debates. The different political parties are blaming each other for the approval or rejection of certain articles. Voting began at the end of last week. Death threats have already been sent to a couple of members in parliament thereby delaying the voting […]
From the perspective of Tunisian youth, year 2013 was a game-changer. According to Issam Khemakhem, the president of the Tunisian-Euro-Mediterranean Association of Youth (ATEMJ), the need to combat extremism, as experienced by Tunisia in 2013, due to terrorist attacks, is reinforced especially when it comes to dealing with ideological, religious, or social threats. ATEMJ has […]
Tunisia’s parliament is expected to vote on the drafted constitution on Friday but the text is undergoing amendments in the last moments and parliamentarians are yet to lay their hands on the final draft. The National Constituent Assembly begun the amendments after intense last-minute negotiations led to the revision of certain articles and probably some […]
The killing of three French journalists in northern Malian region of Kidal in early November 2013 is indicative of the ability of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) to conduct terrorist attacks in the region despite French military presence. Similarly, the announcement of the creation of a new terrorist group called Al Mourabitoun out of […]
In order to deal with the envisaged decline in state revenues, Tunisia is planning to introduce tax hikes and subsidy cuts in the budget for 2014. Not surprisingly, this unpopular call has already triggered a wave of controversy, while economists agree that all in all the entire draft of the 2014 budget is inevitably facing […]