Month: July 2022

President Kais Saied Saied clearly feels that he is a man of destiny. Although his authoritarian streak is neither unique nor new to Tunisia or the region, his academic credentials and rhetorical style separate him by a long distance from all other Arab autocrats. Delivering his speeches in impeccable classical Arabic, often adlibbed, at a considered pace, the former law professor conveys a sense of a man who weighs his words carefully, with clear focus and vision and ironclad determination. Despite mounting criticism both at home and abroad since he assumed total power in Tunisia a year ago, he has continued undeterred to his, and his alone, desired destination. This may very well be part of his appeal to many Tunisians. Tunisia was the birthplace of t...

Mr Sunak said he would tighten the definition of who qualifies for asylum and introduce a cap on refugee numbers. Ms Truss said she would extend the UK's Rwanda asylum plan and increase the number of Border Force staff. More than 14,000 migrants have crossed the Channel to the UK on small boats so far this year. In an attempt to deter the crossings, in April the government announced it would send some asylum seekers deemed to have entered the UK illegally to Rwanda to claim refuge there. However, no asylum seekers have been sent to the east-African country yet following a series of legal challenges. The UK stands to lose the £120m it has paid to Rwanda if the plan is ruled unlawful by the courts at an upcoming hearing. ...

Travellers faced queues of up to seven hours to cross the Channel on Saturday as thousands of families headed to France for the summer holidays. Tailbacks among tourist traffic has eased, but the major incident declared in Kent on Friday remains in force. French and UK officials have clashed over the reason for the delays. The UK government said French authorities had failed to find enough border staff to check passports, demanding they resolve the "terrible situation". But French Transport Minister Clement Beaune hit back,Steve Madden Shoes saying France was not responsible for the additional border checks brought on by Brexit. Families travelling to the Eurotunnel terminal on Saturday told the BBC they faced several hours of delays a...

That's how showrunner Patrick McKay described his mission for The Rings of Power - Amazon Prime's hotly anticipated Lord of the Rings TV spin-off, as he unveiled a new trailer and unseen footage at San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday. In his armoury: a huge cast of comely elves, a rare female dwarf, the Hobbits' ancestors, a seriously impressive CGI city, a mystery menace, an entwife and a surprise Balrog. The Rings of Power is the most expensive show ever made, at $1bn (£832m) for five seasons - and this is fans' best guide to how it will look, sound and feel. But what everyone really wants to know is, can it compete with Peter Jackson's beloved Lord of the Rings film trilogy, the winner of 17 Oscars, benchmark for composers, and populariser of second brea...

The So-called Oak Fire has exploded in size since starting on Friday, but firefighters were still unable to get any of it under control 24 hours later. "Explosive fire behaviour is challenging firefighters", California's fire department said. More than 3,000 people have been evacuated and 10 homes destroyed. Burning across 11,900 acres (4,815 hectares), it is the largest active wildfire in the United States right now. The state of emergency has been declared in Mariposa County. In a statement, California's Governor Gavin Newsom said the flames were being "driven by hot, Skechers Outlets dry weather and drought conditions". Must of the United States is sweltering through a heatwave this weekend. Temperatures in Mariposa County hit 96F (...

The classification is the highest alert that the WHO can issue and follows a worldwide upsurge in cases. It came at the end of the second meeting of the WHO's emergency committee on the virus. More than 16,000 cases have now been reported from 75 countries, said WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. There had been five deaths so far as a result of the outbreak, he added. There are only two other such health emergencies at present - the coronavirus pandemic and the continuing effort to eradicate polio. Dr Tedros said the emergency committee had been unable to reach a consensus on whether the monkeypox outbreak should be classified as a global health emergency. However, he said the outbreak had spread aroun...