World Tour - Tunisia’s one-man rule

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour with our reporter in Africa, Onize Ohikere.

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER:Tunisian leader extends emergency order—We start today here in Africa.

AUDIO: [Man speaking Arabic]

Tunisia’s president extended his rule for at least another year on Monday.

Speaking on national television, Kais Saied said the country’s parliament would remain suspended until elections in December 2022. He also announced a time of “popular consultation” to draft a new constitution. Reform measures will be put to a national vote in July.

Opponents rejected the announcement as a blow to democracy and another extension of Saied’s one-man rule.

Tunisia is the only country to emerge from the 20-11 Arab Spring uprisings with a democratic government. But Saied seized control of the country a year ago, amid a political and economic crisis.

Canary Island volcano erupts again—Next we head just off the coast, to the Canary Islands.

AUDIO: [Announcement in Spanish]

Officials in the Spanish territory ordered more than a third of La Palma’s residents to shelter indoors on Monday. That as the Cumbre Viejo volcano rumbled to life again after several days of quiet.

The volcano spewed ash, smoke, and toxic gas into the air. Officials urged residents in nearby towns to seal themselves into a room as far from the outside as possible.

The Cumbre Viejo began erupting in September. No one has died but the massive flows of lava have destroyed nearly 3,000 buildings.

Israeli PM travels to UAE—Next to the Middle East.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made a historic visit to the United Arab Emirates on Monday. He was the first leader of the Jewish state to visit the Arab nation.

BENNETT: I want to thank His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed for very warm hospitality throughout this visit. Throughout the day we had meaningful, in-depth and straightforward talks about our two nations, about the region and about our economy and technology and what we can do together.

The UAE’s official news agency quoted the crown prince as saying he hoped Bennett’s visit “would contribute to further cooperation for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries and the peoples of the region.”

The UAE forged diplomatic ties with Israel 15 months ago as part of the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords. During Monday’s meeting, the two leaders discussed investment, trade, and development.

It’s also likely they talked about Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The UAE’s national security advisor met with the Iranian president last week ahead of international nuclear talks in Vienna. Israel strongly opposes those negotiations.

Belarus sentences opposition leader to 18 years—And finally, we end today in Eastern Europe.

A court in Belarus has sentenced opposition leader Sergei Tikhanovsky to 18 years in jail. He was convicted of galvanizing a protest movement against strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko last year.

His wife, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, spoke out against the verdict on Tuesday.

TIKHANOVSKAYA: No,  I'm not going to cry the whole day because of this, I'm not going to be panicked because of this because I understand that we don't have time you know, to cry, we don't have time to think about it too much. 'Oh wow, 18 years'. No, it's the question: what else you can do.

Tikhanovskaya took over the opposition movement after her husband’s arrest. She ran against Lukashenko in last year’s election. Although Lukashenko claimed victory, outside observers widely believe Tikhanovskaya won the vote.

Lukashenko orchestrated a brutal crackdown on his opponents, jailing hundreds and forcing many more to flee the country. Tikhanovskaya remains in exile in Lithuania.

That’s it for this week’s World Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

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