TUNIS: Tunisians on Sunday largely shunned polling stations in the first elections for a new chamber of parliament under a constitution pushed through last year by President Kais Saied.
Opponents of Saied argue the election is the latest step in the president’s “authoritarian” agenda.
Saied, a former law professor who was elected president in 2019, seized executive powers two years later, sacking the government, dissolving parliament and declaring he would rule by decree.
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron expressed “great concern” about a Catholic parish in Gaza with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, his office said on Sunday.
Macron spoke with Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa by telephone to discuss the “tragic situation” there since the outbreak of war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants on Oct. 7.
“Hundreds of civilians of all confessions ... have been living under bombs and bullets for more than two months while worshippers and nuns take care of the sick, elderly or disabled,” Macron was quoted as saying.
WASHINGTON: An Indian-flagged crude oil tanker in the Red Sea reported that it was hit by an attack drone fired by Houthi militants, sending out a distress call to a US warship in the area, the US military said Saturday.
The Gabon-owned tanker MV Saibaba reported no injuries from the strike, Central Command said in a social media post.
(Developing story)