Year: 2018

Libyan and Tunisian officials were unable to come to an agreement to reopen the key Ras Jdir border crossing on Wednesday in a meeting which came after more than 10 days of closure. “We don’t know how long it will take to solve,” a Libyan official told Middle East Eye, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Nothing is clear, it could be another week to 10 days before we come to an agreement,” he said, adding that the Tunisian delegation had come to the meeting with a lot of conditions. Ras Jdir, a…

Tunisia and Italy have agreed to conduct 60 joint defence activities in 2019, the Tunisian defence minister said on Monday. Following a two hour meeting with his Italian counterpart,  Elisabetta Trenta, the Tunisian minister, Abdelkrim Zbidi, said the two countries have also agreed to continue cooperation in the field of training noting that the Italian military academies have in recent years opened their doors to Tunisian officers. “In late 2018, a centre for vocational training in diving and underwater activities will be established,” he said. The minister added that the…

Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said on Tuesday a change of government would put the economy at risk and shake the confidence of international lenders. Earlier, President Beji Caid Essebsi  urged Chahed to step down if the country’s political and economic problems persisted. Nine cabinets have failed to resolve high inflation and unemployment since the Revolution. “A change of government will shake the confidence of Tunisia’s international partners,  the economy will improve by the end of this year,” he told TAP in an interview on Tuesday. In the interview, Chahed said the government…

Over 1,500 doctors of the public health sector will leave the country  2018/2019 and will reach 2,700 in 2022, Secretary-General of Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) Noureddine Tabboubi said on Tuesday at the works of the public health doctors, dentists and pharmacists union’s conference held in Hammamet. Tabboubi recalled that some 55% of the students refuse to return to Tunisia, thus raising the alarm and warning against the threat that shakes the public health system, including notably the crumbling infrastructure, lack of equipment and tools in addition to the difficult working…

A Tunisian boat carrying around 40 African migrants has been stranded off the country’s coast without aid for more than a week after authorities refused to let them disembark there, the Red Crescent said on Monday. Monji Slim, an official of the Tunisian Red Crescent, said the authorities had argued that Malta or Italy should accept the migrants. The Tunisian interior ministry declined to comment.  Slim told Reuters the boat was stuck 12 miles off the coast. “The African migrants at sea are in a bad condition after the vessel’s…