As Tunisian lawmakers mull the 2010 budget, many politicians, labour leaders, and ordinary people are calling for the creation of a national fund to help the unemployed.

The weekly newspaper KOLL ENNASS, published in Arabic in Tunis, has three times lashed out at Tunisian human rights defenders and journalists. Kamel JENDOUBI, Sihem BENSEDRINE and Slim BAGGA have been accused of being Israeli agents allegedly pursued by some ‘Palestinian factions’. (OMCT)

Despite consolidating his vice-like grip on power, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali continues to imprison journalists critical of his regime, say members of the IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group in a joint action this week.

A Tunisian journalist has been sentenced to six months imprisonment on for slander and assault after a trial criticised by rights groups. Accused of assaulting a woman in public, Taoufik Ben Brik, 49, was arrested on October 29, four days after Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was re-elected with nearly 90 per cent of the vote.

Three Tunisian newspapers tied to key opposition parties are withdrawing from circulation for a week to protest what they call the government's "unprecedented clampdown" on the independent media.

Opposition parties made strong advances in legislative elections held on Sunday (October 25th), capturing an unprecedented 53 of Parliament's 214 seats. The ruling Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD) of incumbent President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali obtained an expected majority, winning 161 seats, though only capturing 31% of the popular vote. Ben Ali himself was elected to his fifth five-year term with 89.62% of the votes in the presidential election held the same day.

The Constitutional Court in Tunisia has validated the results of Sunday's presidential election, won by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali with more than 86.62% of the votes, official sources said. The 73-year-old Ben Ali, who was the candidate of the ruling party in power for 22 years, beat three opposition candidates to win his fifth, consecutive five-year term, which should be his last, since the constitution prescribes 75 years as the maximum age for presidential candidates.

On 22 October 2009, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) expressed its growing concern over the organized campaign against journalists and activists in Tunisia.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned attacks and harassment of Tunisian journalists after a series of incidents which suggest deliberate targeting of activists for independent journalism. In particular, the IFJ condemned the beating up of Zied El Heni, journalist for the daily Assahafa, that took place yesterday in Tunis. His blog, Tunisian journalist, was also shutdown for the 22nd time by the authorities.

Elementary school teachers in Tunisia organised a one-day strike on Monday (October 5th) to show solidarity with the dozens of trade union activists and educators imprisoned for their involvement in protests in Gafsa last June. Four of the 34 people imprisoned for the strike in the southern mining region are members of the Elementary Education General Syndicate of Redeyef-Gafsa

A film, set to be released on the 7 April 2010, has brought the topic of homosexuality back in the agenda in Tunisia. The first feature film by Tunisia’s Mehdi ben Attia titled “Le Fil”, tackles the issue of homosexuality between men within a male chauvinistic society where men are supposed to be men and ancient traditions still rule. Entirely shot in Tunisia, “Le Fil” was presented under the Tunisian National Selection, during the Festival du Film Francophone d’Angouleme (South West of France), on 26 to the 30 August 2009.

A group of Tunisian bloggers started a new campaign on Facebook last week to condemn censorship of the internet by the Tunisian Internet Agency and put pressure on the government to unblock the social websites YouTube and Dailymotion. Over the last few months, internet users have received "404: Page Not Found" errors when trying to surf the two websites. Observers say the motive behind the blockage might be political, coming as it does in the months before Tunisia's presidential and parliamentary elections.

Kenya, South Africa and Tunisia have emerged as the top innovators of Africa in a report on the continent's competitiveness launched last week. The three countries — which scored highly on ratings of their scientific capacity — are on a par with such innovative countries as Brazil and India, according to The Africa Competitiveness Report 2009, produced by the World Economic Forum, the African Development Bank and the World Bank Africa.

Discord continued for a second week between the leadership of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) and other union members over recent allegations of poor representation, raising concerns that the conflict would negatively affect the country's press industry if left unresolved.

Bochra Bel Haj Hmida is a lawyer, women's rights activist, and former president of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women. She has been one of the fiercest opponents of she regards as the oppression of Tunisian women regarding inheritance. Hmida is also responsible for saving dozens of young people from the gallows in 1984, when she met former president Habib Bourguiba and his wife Wassila and convinced the president to issue a pardon.

The National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) issued a statement Monday (February 2nd) condemning the government's confiscation of the January 31st issue of Attariq Aljadid, a newspaper operated by opposition party Attajdid Movement, and expressing solidarity with members of Tunis radio station Radio Kalima, which was shut down last Friday.

Members of the IFEX-Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG), a coalition of 18 member organisations of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) network, firmly condemn the siege carried out by police on Tunis-based media outlet Kalima and call on the Tunisian authorities to immediately launch an investigation into the abduction of one of its journalists and harassment of the station's staff and contributors.

The Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD) defined three main goals during its last conference in October, said new president Sanaa Benachour: addressing the deteriorating economic condition of women in Tunisia, promoting equality and confronting religious extremism.

In a bid to lure votes and increase their exposure, presidential candidates in Tunisia are taking their campaigns to the pages of popular social networking website Facebook. At least two candidates, Mohamed Bouchiha of the People's Unity Party (PUP) and Ahmed Nejib Chebbi of the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), have created their own pages on the website to campaign in the October 2009 elections.

Leaders from Muslim countries and civil society organisations adopted a new pact on Wednesday (November 26th) in Tunis to promote the rights of youth and to advocate a better role for them in society. The "Tunis Pact" was proposed at the International Conference on Youth Issues in the Islamic World: Present Stakes and Future Challenges, which was held on November 24th-26th in Tunis.