Day: June 3, 2018

Conference Contrasts Authoritarianism and Democracy in Middle East

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The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) held its annual conference in Washington, DC on April 26 to discuss the perilous state of democracy in the Middle East. The theme of this year’s event was “Authoritarianism and Democratic Decline in the Age of Sectarianism and Populism.” University of Denver professor Nader Hashemi, a conference co-organizer, began the day by challenging the notion of “authoritarian stability,” which asserts that strongmen are needed to bring stability to the volatile region. Hashemi described this theory as “a recipe for greater…

Tunisia expects grain harvest falling to 1.4 million tonnes this season

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Tunisia expects its grain harvest to fall to 1.4 million tonnes this season from 1.6 million tonnes because of lack of rain, the agriculture ministry said on Sunday. The crop includes 923 tonnes of durum wheat, 119 tonnes of soft wheat and 362 tonnes of barley. This year’s harvest is divided between 9.233 million quintals of durum wheat, 1.193 million q of soft wheat, 3.627 million q of barley and 308 thousand q of triticale, official from the Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries  told TAP. The yield per hectare reached…

At least 46 migrants die as boat sinks off Kerkennah

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At least 46 migrants died when their boat sank off Tunisia’s southern coast (Kerkennah island) and 67 others were rescued by the coast guard, the Defence Ministry said on Sunday. The rescue operation was ongoing, the ministry said in a statement. The migrants were of Tunisian and other nationalities. Human traffickers increasingly use Tunisia as a launch pad for migrants heading to Europe as Libya’s coast guard, aided by armed groups, has tightened controls. Security officials said the boat was packed with about 180 migrants, including 80 from other African countries. Unemployed…