BERLIN, June 07, 2013 (AFP) German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday urged the Turkish government to renounce violence against protesters, after deadly unrest in the country. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan “already told his people that he understands that there are certain problems in the country,” she told reporters after talks with Tunisian leader Ali Larayedh. “I am counting on the fact tha ...

TUNIS, June 05, 2013 (AFP) A Tunis court on Wednesday adjourned the trial of three European activists with the women's topless protest group Femen to June 12, ordering that they remain in detention, their lawyers said. "The trial has been adjourned to June 12. The bail request for the three Femen activists was refused," defence lawyer Souheib Bahri.  The judge must decide at the next hearing on whether to a ...

TUNIS, June 05, 2013 (AFP) Amina Sboui, the young Tunisian arrested for an anti-Islamist protest, has become a symbol of resistance to religious intolerance for Western feminists, but opinion at home is divided over the activist inspired by topless protest group Femen. Under the pseudonym Amina Tyler, she sparked a scandal in March by posting topless pictures of herself on Facebook, defying Arab-Muslim conv ...

TUNIS, June 05, 2013 (AFP) Three European women went on trial in Tunis on Wednesday for holding a topless anti-Islamist protest, and their French lawyer said he was confident about the outcome, despite the risk of jail sentences. Pauline Hillier and Marguerite Stern from France and Josephine Markmann from Germany arrived in court around 0930 GMT wearing the traditional Tunisian veil, or safsari. A few dozen ...

TUNIS, May 31, 2013 (AFP) Three European women with radical activist group Femen, who were arrested after baring their breasts in Tunis, will be tried next week for public indecency, which carries a possible prison sentence, their lawyer said on Friday. "They will appear in court in Tunis on June 5... The trial will be an open hearing," Souheib Bahri told AFP, information confirmed by French consular offici ...

by Kaouther LARBI KAIROUAN, Tunisia, May 30, 2013 (AFP) A Tunisian activist with the women's topless protest group Femen went on trial Thursday for illegal possession of pepper spray, a day after three Europeans bared their breasts in the capital Tunis. Femen said the young women arrested Wednesday outside the central courthouse, two French and one German, would at midday appear before the public prosecutor ...

TUNIS, May 29, 2013 (AFP) Three young European women with topless protest group Femen were arrested on Wednesday after baring their breasts in central Tunis, a first in the Arab world, an AFP journalist reported. Standing outside the main courthouse, the women, two French and the other German, shouted: "Free Amina," in support of  a young Tunisian woman detained while protesting against hardline Islamists a ...

TUNIS, May 11, 2013 (AFP) Tunisian Foreign Minister Othmane Jarandi told AFP on Saturday that some 800 Tunisians are fighting in Islamist rebel ranks in Syria and said the country would work to repatriate its citizens taken prisoner there. "We don't have exact numbers, since several people left the country illegally, but the most accurate estimate is a maximum of 800," fighting in Syria, he said. Tunis has ...

DJERBA, Tunisia, April 28, 2013 (AFP) Hundreds of Jewish worshippers on Sunday completed an incident-free annual pilgrimage to Ghriba, Africa's oldest synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba, where security was high to prevent any violence. Organisers expressed satisfaction at the number of pilgrims, including Israelis who flew in from Europe, who took part in the ritual which had been scrapped in 2011, ...

TUNIS, April 15, 2013 (AFP) A Tunisian activist who sparked controversy by posting topless pictures of herself online in support of Arab women's rights  vowed on Monday to bare her breasts in protest, after being held captive by her family and beaten. The young woman, Amina Tyler, was speaking on Skype to Ukrainian women's power group Femen after running away from home, where she said she was abducted, drug ...

PARIS, April 06, 2013 (AFP) A Tunisian activist said on French television Saturday that she feared for her life after courting controversy by posting topless pictures of herself online in support of Arab women's rights last month. The young woman, who goes by the name of Amina Tyler, provoked the ire of Islamist groups when she posted the pictures of herself online with the words "My body belongs to me" emb ...

TUNIS, April 5, 2013 (AFP) A Tunisian military helicopter crashed on Friday near an air base in the capital's suburb of Aouina, injuring two people, a defence ministry spokesman told AFP.  "A BHT (US-made Bell) helicopter, with the pilot, copilot and three mechanics on board, made a crash landing. Two were lightly hurt and taken to a military hospital," Mokhtar Ben Nasr said. He said the helicopter was on a ...