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Tunisia has seen a marked shift in attitudes towards women political leaders since Najla Bouden became the first female prime minister in the Arab world. However, this doesn't mean that life has dramatically improved for Tunisia's women, writes BBC News Arabic's Jessie Williams. Bochra Belhaj Hmida has spent her whole life fighting for both gender equality and democracy in Tunisia - "one of which cannot be achieved without the other," she says. After the revolution in 2011 - which saw her take part in the mass demonstrations that led to autocrat President Ben Ali being ousted - Tunisia passed a gender parity law. It requires political parties to have an equal number of men and women on their list of candidates to serve in parliament after elections. It ...

A woman in Texas has argued that her unborn baby should count as a passenger after she was fined for driving in a high-occupancy lane. Brandy Bottone, 32, was given the $275 (£231) ticket on 29 June after she was stopped by police in the US state. She then argued that, given the overturning of the constitutional right to an abortion by the Supreme Court, her unborn child counted as a person. Ms Bottone, who is 34 weeks pregnant, plans to contest the fine in court. She said the incident took place after she used the high-occupancy lane - which requires at least two passengers - while in a hurry to collect her six-year-old son. As she exited the lane, she was stopped by police. Ms Bottone told the Dallas Morning News that, when asked whether there were any other passengers in ...

The congressional committee investigating the 6 January attack on the US Capitol is set to resume its hearing schedule this week, with an afternoon session on the violent extremist groups that participated in the Capitol breach. It will be the seventh hearing conducted this year, and the first since the "emergency" session in which former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson provided blockbuster testimony about Donald Trump's activities on the day of the Capitol attack. Here's a look at where things stand at the moment - and what might be in store. The extremists who led the charge The 6 January hearings up to this point have focused considerable attention on how the committee believes Donald Trump and his advisers created a political climate after ...

Russian natural gas supplies to Germany via the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 have been halted for 10 days for annual maintenance work. But German Economy Minister Robert Habeck warned that EU countries had to be prepared in case gas shipments did not resume. He has accused the Kremlin of using gas "as a weapon" in response to EU sanctions over the war in Ukraine. Mr Habeck admitted Germany had become too dependent on Russian gas. He described that as "a grave political mistake as we can see today, which we are trying to remedy as quickly as we possibly can". He said two floating terminals for deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) would be ready by the end of the year. In mid-June Russia's state gas firm Gazpro...

On Monday, or 7-11, at least four shootings, two of them fatal, were reported at California 7-Eleven stores. Authorities are searching for a suspect linked to three in the Los Angeles area. It wasn't clear whether the suspect was connected to a 7-Eleven shooting in Riverside, a police spokesman said. A victim in that incident, a customer in his mid-40s, remained in "grave" condition late Monday afternoon, Riverside police spokesman Ryan Railsback said. The suspect is alleged to have entered the store, robbed the clerk and shot the customer before fleeing shortly before 2 a.m., Railsback said. The other robberies and shootings occurred in Santa Ana, Brea and La Habra from 3:20 a.m. to 4:55 a.m., authorities said. Sgt. Maria Lopez, a Santa Ana police spokeswoman,SAS Sneakers  ...

WASHINGTON — Each new revelation in public testimony before the Jan. 6 committee has been more explosive than the last — from former President Donald Trump’s direct role in organizing “fake electors” to tirades that left ketchup oozing down a White House wall. As the panel resumes its televised public hearings this week, lawmakers are focused on demonstrating how Trump’s actions merged with and culminated in the violence at the Capitol. Committee members say it’s easy to sum up everything that’s been presented. “He lost, he knew it and he embarked on an alternate effort to stay in power,” said Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., who is expected to lead questioning at an upcoming hearing. But for those who haven’t watched every minute of the hearings — Chacos Shoes and even for some who hav...