TUNIS // It is a good time to be a seller of flags in the Tunisian capital. The national flag is not just waved by protesters in a sea of bright red at opposition and pro-government rallies. It is worn as a face veil by some women protesters, or as a bandanna tied around the head of small children carried proudly on their fathers' shoulders, in an early lesson in citizenship.
Both sides in the political crisis that has lasted for three weeks now, mobilising tens of thousands on to the streets, are united in their patriotism. But the stand-off over the future of the government led by the moderate Islamists of Ennahda has left public opinion more divided than at any time since the revolution which ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.
Outside the parliament building in the capital's Bardo district, opponents of the government gathered once more last week to demand the creation of a new, non-party "government of national salvation". This diverse new opposition movement also wants the 217-member constituent assembly, elected in late 2011 to write a new constitution, to be dissolved.
The opposition rally on Tuesday ostensibly marked Tunisia's National Women's Day, on the anniversary of progressive legislation on women's rights passed in 1956, under the first post-independence president, Habib Bourguiba. Demonstrators included middle-class professionals, seasoned leftist activists, and young people who reject having a religious party in government. Some protesters said they longed for the more authoritarian days of Bourguiba, or even for the return of Ben Ali, who has been convicted of the killing of protesters among other crimes.
Some of their vocabulary harked back to the Ben Ali era. "These Islamists of Ennahda are terrorists, the proof of it is these recent attacks," said Hajer Drime, 40, a housewife who attended the rally with her husband, referring to two assassinations this year of opposition leaders that have shocked Tunisians.
The shooting in February of leftist politician Chokri Belaid was followed, on July 25, by the killing of another leftist leader, Mohammed Brahmi, who was also an outspoken critic of political Islam.
In reaction to Brahmi's murder, about 60 assembly members resigned and joined calls for its dissolution. Brahmi's assassination was followed four days later by the killing of eight soldiers in the western Chambi Mountain region, near the border with Algeria. Three of their bodies were mutilated by the attackers - apparently members of an armed Islamist group.
For many Tunisians, this grim news added weight to arguments that the Ennahda-led government had failed to control the growing influence of Islamic militancy in poorer neighbourhoods. The opposition says it has no confidence that the government intends to hold free and fair presidential and legislative elections by the end of the year as it has repeatedly pledged to do.
A driving force in this new opposition alignment is the Nida Tounes (Tunisian Call) party, created last year by Beji Caid Sebsi, who served as prime minister for less than a year in 2011 and held posts in Ben Ali's ruling party. Nida Tounes seeks to rehabilitate a "Bourguibist" tradition of an efficiently run secular state. For its critics, the party represents an attempt by the "old regime", with its networks of cronyism and authoritarian aspirations, to make a comeback. The assembly had been drafting a law to exclude former senior office holders in Ben Ali's ruling party from standing for election.
The country's economy is still struggling to return to pre-revolutionary growth levels, and its security forces are overstretched as they attempt to tackle extremist Islamist groups and organised criminals muscling in on a cross-regional trade in weapons looted from Libya.
For Michael Ayari, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank, "the dissolution of the assembly would be a mistake" with a new constitution close to completion.
"There are non-democratic forces in each camp, and what is needed is an alliance between the democrats in each camp," Mr Ayari said.
That would keep the country's democratic transition on track without either side resorting to some covert alliance with elements in the security services who favour an authoritarian solution, he said.
Ennahda traces its ideological origins back to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, and Tunisia's new opposition alignment has drawn encouragement from the ousting of Mohammed Morsi as Egyptian president on July 3.
At counter-demonstrations organised by Ennahda, slogans have referred to the "legitimacy" of the elected government and assembly. Ennahda's leader Rached Ghannouchi has said would-be "coupsters" sought to destabilise the country that inspired the revolts in other Arab countries in 2011, to carry out a "counter-revolution" that would reverse steps taken towards democracy.
At a news conference on Thursday, Mr Ghannouchi argued that it would be irresponsible for the government to resign when it was so close to organising elections that could be overseen by thousands of observers to ensure transparency. Tunisia was a "cultured" nation that likes "peace and order, and dislikes anarchy", he said.
The opposition's announcement on Tuesday that it would hold protests in provincial towns to oust regional governors regarded as Ennahda loyalists would fail to find public support, he added.
Ennahda is offering to take more parties into a wider government, but has turned down opposition demands for a non-party prime minister to head an entirely new government of "technocrats".
As both domestic and international mediators attempted through the past week to bring the two sides to direct talks, Wissem, a woman who manages a biscut company manager, had travelled to the capital from the town of Kairouan, in a bus laid on to boost numbers at Ennahda's own Women's Day rally on Tuesday.
As impassioned speakers addressed flag-carrying Ennahda supporters, she said she had voted for Ennahda in 2011 but would not be doing so again.
"These deaths during Ramadan were so shocking. We Tunisians are not used to that kind of thing," she said. "I wouldn't want to see Ennahda eliminated from the public stage. They are a force out there, among ordinary people. But if the government doesn't show better results soon, there has to be a change."
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
The biog
Born: Kuwait in 1986
Family: She is the youngest of seven siblings
Time in the UAE: 10 years
Hobbies: audiobooks and fitness: she works out every day, enjoying kickboxing and basketball
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Meydan Racecourse racecard:
6.30pm: The Madjani Stakes Listed (PA) | Dh175,000 | 1,900m
7.05pm: Maiden for 2-year-old fillies (TB) | Dh165,000 | 1,400m
7.40pm: The Dubai Creek Mile Listed (TB) | Dh265,000 | 1,600m
8.15pm: Maiden for 2-year-old colts (TB) | Dh165,000 | 1,600m
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed (TB) | Dh265,000 | 2,000m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh190,000 | 1,200m
10pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh190,000 | 1,600m.
New schools in Dubai
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
Stats at a glance:
Cost: 1.05 billion pounds (Dh 4.8 billion)
Number in service: 6
Complement 191 (space for up to 285)
Top speed: over 32 knots
Range: Over 7,000 nautical miles
Length 152.4 m
Displacement: 8,700 tonnes
Beam: 21.2 m
Draught: 7.4 m
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
AGL AWARDS
Golden Ball - best Emirati player: Khalfan Mubarak (Al Jazira)
Golden Ball - best foreign player: Igor Coronado (Sharjah)
Golden Glove - best goalkeeper: Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah)
Best Coach - the leader: Abdulaziz Al Anbari (Sharjah)
Fans' Player of the Year: Driss Fetouhi (Dibba)
Golden Boy - best young player: Ali Saleh (Al Wasl)
Best Fans of the Year: Sharjah
Goal of the Year: Michael Ortega (Baniyas)
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How tumultuous protests grew
- A fuel tax protest by French drivers appealed to wider anti-government sentiment
- Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved
- Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
- At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
- Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars
- Clashes soon turned violent as thousands fought with police at cordons
- An estimated two dozen people lost eyes and many others were admitted to hospital
Student Of The Year 2
Director: Punit Malhotra
Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal
1.5 stars
WORLD RECORD FEES FOR GOALKEEPERS
1) Kepa Arrizabalaga, Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea (£72m)
2) Alisson, Roma to Liverpool (£67m)
3) Ederson, Benfica to Manchester City (£35m)
4) Gianluigi Buffon, Parma to Juventus (£33m)
5) Angelo Peruzzi, Inter Milan to Lazio (£15.7m
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 502hp at 7,600rpm
Torque: 637Nm at 5,150rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: from Dh317,671
On sale: now
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
