Day: January 8, 2017

Watchful Waiting on European Security

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The state of European security may dramatically worsen in 2017 if the worrying trends of 2016 continue. Observers should watch for four big and consistent problems. The first area in which Europe still flounders is its response to security threats. It is reasonable to assume that jihadist terrorism in Europe will continue to increase, as the self-proclaimed Islamic State has singled out the United Kingdom, France, and especially Germany as its preferred European targets. But governments’ current pattern of relying on intelligence services, police, and interior ministries to tackle the…

Arlette Chabot presents in Tunis book of interviews with Caïd Essebsi

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French journalist and radio and TV host Arlette Chabot presented on Saturday afternoon her book of interviews with President of the Republic Béji Caïd Essebsi. Entitled “Tunisia: Democracy in Land of Islam,” the book is a compilation of interviews started in October 2015. It is meant for foreign readers and comes as a plea in favour of Tunisia and its distinctiveness in the Arab world, Chabot said. “It is a book where we get to know Tunisia and Tunisians,” she indicated. This determined people decided its own fate and toppled…

Demonstration at Avenue Bourguiba against return of terrorists

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Some 800 Hundred gathered Sunday in Habib Bourguiba Avenue to protest against the return of terrorists from hotbeds of tension. The event is organised at the initiative of the “Collectif Citoyens Tunisiens”, in the presence of an important security deployment. The demonstrators deplored the statements they described as “serious” and “catastrophic” by many politicians about the return of Tunisians from Syria, Libya, Iraq and other areas of conflict fanned by the terrorist organisations Daech and Al Qaeda. As expected, only the national flag was hoisted in the absence of any…

Suspects arrested in Tunisia not linked to Berlin attack

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The nephew of the prime suspect in last month’s Berlin market attack and three others arrested in Tunisia were not linked to the carnage, a prosecution spokesman said Saturday. Days after the December 19 attack, Tunisia’s interior ministry announced the arrest of the nephew of Anis Amri, the suspected Berlin attacker, and two others. Prosecution spokesman Sofiene Sliti told AFP on Saturday that a fourth man had been also arrested. “The investigations have shown that none of them had any link to the Berlin attack and that they don’t belong…

High influx of Algerian tourists in border posts of Jendouba and Kef (2016)

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(TAP)- The border crossing of Melloula, in the Tabarka delegation (Jendouba governorate), recorded, for the first time, a strong influx of Algerian tourists, with the arrival of 644 thousand tourists until December 2016, an increase of more than 32 % in comparison with the year 2015, indicates a report of the regional tourism commissioner of Tabarka. The border crossing of Babbouche (delegation Ain Drahem in Jendouba) registered until the end of 2016, the entry in the Tunisian territory of nearly 127 thousand Algerian tourists, a jump of over 55 %…

Half of pay rise for 2017 to be disbursed in shape of tax credit

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Half of the wage increase agreed with the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) will be disbursed starting from late January in the shape of a tax credit, said Director-General for Studies and Tax Legislation at the Finance Ministry Sihem Boughdira Nemsia. Income tax deductions will be lowered to the tune of 50% of the specific and general pay rise scheduled for this year, she Friday told a meeting on 20 17 Finance Law. Tax scale review is one in a string of measures designed, for the first time since 1990,…

Tunisia state employee held for security leaks – police

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Tunisian authorities have arrested a state employee accused of passing information about security operations to extremist groups, a police spokesperson said on Friday. Since its 2011 uprising, Tunisia has faced repeated jihadist attacks that have killed more than 100 soldiers and policemen, as well dozens of civilians and foreign tourists, according to official figures. Khlifa Chibani, a spokesperson for the National Guard, told a news conference that 11 “terrorist cells” were broken up by security services last month alone and 62 suspects arrested. Among the suspects was “an employee of…