By Elaine Donnelly
Extending sexual misconduct to combat units
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Five days of riots last week in a town in Tunisia's impoverished interior wounded hundreds of people and deepened the rift between the two most powerful forces in this North African country: the moderate Islamist ruling party and the main labor union.
Syrian troops shelled and raided opposition strongholds nationwide on Tuesday, activists said, prompting an urgent appeal by international envoy Kofi Annan to the Syrian regime to halt violence and give his truce plan a chance.
Fewer than half the leaders of the Arab world showed up at an Arab summit in Baghdad on Thursday, a snub to the Iraqi government that reflects how trenchantly the sectarian division between Sunnis and Shiites and the rivalry with neighboring Iran define the Middle East's politics today.
A moderate Islamist party that had been banned for decades in Tunisia appeared headed for victory Monday in the region's first elections of the Arab Spring.
Inspired by the scenes of euphoria in Libya, Syrian protesters poured into the streets Friday and shouted that President Bashar Assad's regime will be the next to unravel now that ousted Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi is dead.
Arab states that once were transfixed by the January revolt in Tunisia are more focused now on their internal crises than the historic elections Sunday in the tiny North African state.
A court Monday sentenced former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to 15½ years in prison for smuggling drugs, guns and archaeological artifacts, in the latest trial in absentia of the deposed autocrat.
Visiting Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf vowed that Cairo's possible ties with Iran will not undermine the security of oil-rich Arab states in the Gulf.
Before starting to build the foundations of a new republic, Tunisians first rapidly demolished reminders of the old one. First to go were all pictures of ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali lingering in offices, on billboards and on lampposts.
What to do with Moammar Gadhafi? Like so many dictators and merely nervous absolute monarchs, the current head of Libya must realize that his time is up. But, also like others, Col. Gadhafi seems intent on taking as many of his own people with him as possible.
At the height of the Tunisian uprising, dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali tried hard to silence the young bloggers who were driving the protests against him. His security agents arrested, even tortured, some of them and repeatedly shut down their sites.
At the height of the Tunisian uprising, dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali tried hard to silence the young bloggers who were driving the protests against him. His security agents arrested, even tortured, some of them and repeatedly shut down their sites.
A Tunisian court dissolved the party of ousted President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali and ordered all its assets seized, demolishing a key symbol of his autocratic regime.
Tunisia's prime minister named a new government Monday after a spate of resignations that has revived questions about the country's post-revolution direction.
A Tunisian Islamist party banned for more than 20 years was legalized Tuesday, while the country's most prominent opposition figure quit the unity government amid renewed uncertainty about where Tunisia is headed.
Ben Ali has claimed in a statement that the jewels and weapons were gifts from heads of state and the money and drugs were planted.
On Wednesday, the justice minister highlighted the massive scope of that unrest: Some 11,029 prisoners — about a third of the country's prison population — were able to escape amid the chaos, he said.
