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Tunisia announces new government

Tunisian PM Mohammed Ghannouchi announces the national unity governmentMohammed Ghannouchi has been Tunisian prime minister since 1999

Tunisia has formed a national unity government, the country’s prime minister has announced, days after a popular revolt ousted the president.

The foreign, interior and defence ministers are to retain their jobs, with several opposition figures joining the government.

The government will be led by incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi, and aims to prepare Tunisia for elections.

He also announced a series of measures to open up political and media freedom.

All political parties will be allowed to operate in Tunisia, political prisoners will be freed and the media will be permitted “total freedom”, Mr Ghannouchi said.

“We have decided to free all the people imprisoned for their ideas, their beliefs or for having expressed dissenting opinions,” the AFP news agency reported him as saying.

The announcement of the new government included a pledge to abolish Tunisia’s information ministry and to create a state where the media had “total freedom”.

Reuters news agency said two opposition figures, named as Ahmed Ibrahim and Mustafa Ben Jaafar, would be in the new government.

There were also reports that a prominent blogger, Sidi Amamou, had been named minister for youth and sport.

“We are committed to intensifying our efforts to re-establish calm and peace in the hearts of all Tunisians. Our priority is security, as well as political and economic reform,” Mr Ghannouchi told a news conference.

A Tunisian soldier stands guard in central Tunis (17 January 2010)Tunis was hit by renewed demonstrations and clashes before the announcement

The announcement came amid growing pressure from demonstrators for Tunisia to make a clean break with the policies of the former president, who was in office for 23 years.

Correspondents say there is some uncertainty over whether the inclusion of several veteran ministers in senior positions will be acceptable to those protesting on the streets.

Widespread protests over high unemployment and high food prices pitched demonstrators against Tunisia’s police and military, eventually toppling Mr Ben Ali’s government.

Monday’s announcement came hours after new street violence flared in Tunis.

Police used water cannon, tear gas and occasional gunshots to disperse several hundred demonstrators calling for the party of ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to relinquish power.

The country has been in a state of emergency since he fled to Saudi Arabia on Friday.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

7/7 survivor found friend’s body

The bombed bus in Tavistock SquareThirteen people were killed by the Tavistock Square bomber Hasib Hussain

A survivor of the 7 July bus bombing broke down as she told the inquests how she found the body of a friend who died in the attack.

Camille Scott-Bradshaw, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was blown out of the bus and onto the road by the force of the blast.

Afterwards, she said she recognised the body of colleague Marie Hartley from her hair and a bracelet on her wrist.

A total of 52 people died in four suicide attacks in London in 2005.

Ms Scott-Bradshaw and Ms Hartley had travelled to the capital for a conference when they were caught up in the bombing of the number 30 bus in Tavistock Square.

Giving evidence by video link, she told the inquest she had felt “uneasy” when a fellow passenger mentioned there had been an explosion on the Underground, but “didn’t for one minute think that it would affect me”.

Nevertheless, she decided to send a text message to her partner and colleagues to tell them she was safe.

Moments later, 18-year-old suicide bomber Hasib Hussain detonated his device.

“There were some bodies lying in the street in front of me”

Anthony Stavely Witness

“I kept thinking, it’s a bomb, a bomb, a bomb has gone off, but I couldn’t see anything,” she said.

“My eyes were just black and I just felt like I was floating through the air.”

Ms Scott-Bradshaw said she began searching for Ms Hartley, 34, in the courtyard of the nearby British Medical Association building.

“I asked people if they knew where Marie was… I just remember looking over and I think, in the corner, there were bodies… and I could see Marie. I just knew it was Marie.

“Then someone came along and put a sheet over her. I knew it was Marie because I could see her hair, her bracelet and her arms.”

Ms Scott-Bradshaw suffered severe leg injuries and damage to her hearing, but told the inquest she was “very, very lucky” to escape the bombing with her life.

Another of those giving evidence on Monday was Anthony Stavely, who was driving through Tavistock Square when the blast happened.

Speaking outside the court afterwards, he explained what he had witnessed: “A black flash, smoke going up in the air… then debris coming down and quietness afterwards.

“I got out of the car and everything was very quiet, and there were some bodies lying in the street in front of me.”

In total, 13 people were killed by the Tavistock Square bomber.

The inquests continue.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Berlusconi sex allegations widen

Silvio Berlusconi, October 2011Silvio Berlusconi says he has never paid for sex
Related stories

Italian prosecutors have alleged that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had sex with a “significant number” of young prostitutes.

In a request to search some of Mr Berlusconi’s properties, they cited allegations that he had paid the women or given them free use of apartments.

The prosecutors are investigating whether Mr Berlusconi paid to have sex with a 17-year-old nightclub dancer.

Mr Berlusconi says he has never paid for sex.

“It’s absurd to even think that I would pay to have sex with a woman,” he said in a statement broadcast on Sunday. “I would consider it degrading.”

Mr Berlusconi is also suspected of abusing his power to have the 17-year-old dancer, Karima El Mahroug, freed from a police cell.

The prime minister has previously admitted calling the police on Ms El Mahroug’s behalf, but says he did nothing wrong and acted out of pity.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Hariri tribunal issues indictment

Rafik Hariri (Sept 2004)Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was a billionaire businessman

The UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon says its prosecutor has issued indictments for the 2005 murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The names of the accused remain confidential for now, but are widely believed to include members of the armed Shia group Hezbollah.

A pre-trial judge now decides whether to issue warrants.

Last week, Hezbollah and its allies brought down Lebanon’s government in a dispute over the tribunal.

The group, which denies any role in the killing, has dismissed the tribunal as a US and Israeli plot that is designed to discredit it.

It has demanded that Lebanon cease all co-operation with the court and cut off its funding.

Amid the political crisis, talks on naming a new prime minister have been postponed until next week.

“The prosecutor of the tribunal [Daniel Bellemare] has submitted an indictment and supporting materials to the pre-trial judge [Daniel Fransen],” the court said in a statement on its website.

The contents of the indictment will remain confidential at this stage, it added.

UN officials have said that the identity of the suspects will not be made public until Judge Fransen endorses the draft indictments and issues warrants – a process could take two to three months.

Rafik Hariri and 22 other people died when a massive blast ripped through his motorcade in central Beirut.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

FA charges Rafael with misconduct

Manchester United full-back Rafael is charged with improper conduct by the Football Association following his dismissal by referee Mike Dean on Sunday.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Anti-government protests in Tunis

Unrest in Tunisia

“It has been very unnerving”, says Francis, a resident of Tunis

New protests have broken out on the streets of Tunisia’s capital, Tunis, hours before the expected announcement of a new national unity government.

Police used water cannon to disperse several hundred demonstrators calling for the party of ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to relinquish power.

The country has been in a state of emergency since he fled on Friday.

Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi has said an agreement between the political parties would be unveiled later.

Monday’s protesters shouted slogans against Mr Ben Ali’s Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), says the BBC’s Lyse Doucet in Tunis, as they made it clear they wanted the ruling party to have no place in the new government.

The atmosphere was mixed with the sound of gunfire ringing out during occasional skirmishes interspersed with scenes of celebration and a rendition of the national anthem.

Mr Ghannouchi – who was also prime minister during Mr Ben Ali’s rule – has pledged rapid action to fill the power vacuum, after being asked to form a government by interim President Foued Mebazaa, the former speaker of the parliament.

Sources close to the negotiations with opposition parties are quoted as saying some portfolios have already been agreed.

After a night of fighting between troops and gunmen loyal to Mr Ben Ali, tanks were patrolling in the capital and other cities in an attempt to restore order on Monday.

Days of violence have cut off supplies to shops and petrol stations, causing shortages. Correspondents say many people just want life to get back to normal and are keen for details of the unity government to be announced.

Mr Ben Ali, who had been in power for 23 years, fled to Saudi Arabia on Friday after a month of mounting protests across the country over unemployment, food price rises and corruption.

Demonstrations gained momentum in December after a 26-year-old unemployed man, Mohamed Bouazizi, died having set himself on fire in protest against a lack of jobs in the country.

Amid concerns the protests may spread across the region, a man set himself on fire outside the Egyptian parliament buildings in Cairo on Monday. His motivation was not immediately clear.

There have also been several such incidents in Algeria which, like Egypt and Tunisia, has high unemployment and has been facing political unrest.

Tunis map

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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.