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WORLD NEWS Monday 17 July 2023

EU and Tunisia announce progress in building

economic and trade ties

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Eu- Specific aid that von der
ropean leaders and Tuni- Leyen announced includ-
sia’s president announced ed a 10-million euro ($11
progress on Sunday in the million) program to boost
building of hoped-for clos- exchanges of students and
er economic and trade 65 million euros ($73 million)
relations and on measures in EU funding to modernize
to combat the often le- Tunisian schools.
thal smuggling of migrants On migration, Von der Ley-
across the Mediterranean en said: “We need an ef-
Sea. fective cooperation more
The leaders of Italy, the than ever.”
Netherlands and the Euro- The EU will work with Tuni-
pean Commission made sia on an anti-smuggling
their second visit to Tunis in partnership, will increase
just over a month. They ex- coordination in search
pressed hope that a mem- In this photo provided by the Tunisian Presidency, Tunisian and rescue operations and
orandum newly signed with President Kais Saied, left, shakes hand with European both sides also agreed to
Tunisia during the trip would Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the presidential cooperate on border man-
pave the way for a com- palace in Carthage, Tunisia, Sunday, July 16, 2023. agement, she said. Von
Associated Press
prehensive partnership. der Leyen pledged 100 mil-
On their last visit in June, the der Leyen, Italian Premier we will now put into prac- lion euros ($112 million) for
leaders held out the prom- Giorgia Meloni and Dutch tice swiftly.” those efforts — a figure she
ise of more than 1 billion Prime Minister Mark Rutte Saied, speaking through had already announced
euros ($1.1 billion) in finan- didn’t detail the full mon- a interpreter, said that he on the leaders’ previous
cial aid to rescue Tunisia’s etary value of EU aid on of- expects the memorandum visit.
teetering economy and fer to Tunisia, in statements to be followed by “a set Tunisia has faced an inter-
better police its borders, in they made after talks with of binding agreements” — national outcry over the
an effort to restore stability Tunisian President Kais suggesting more negotiat- plight of hundreds of mi-
to the North African coun- Saied. ing work ahead. grants who were deported
try and to stem migration But von der Leyen said the Tunisia intends to imple- to inhospitable desert ar-
from its shores to Europe. latest trip secured agree- ment the memorandum “in eas on the Libya and Alge-
This time, European Com- ment on “a comprehensive the nearest time possible,” ria borders.q
mission President Ursula von package of measures that he said.

Iran’s morality police return after protests in a new

campaign to impose Islamic dress on women

DUBAI, United Arab Emir- notifying and then detain-
ates (AP) — Iranian authori- ing women not wearing
ties on Sunday announced hijab in public. In Tehran,
a new campaign to force the men and women of the
women to wear the Islamic morality police could be
headscarf and morality po- seen patrolling the streets
lice returned to the streets in marked vans.
10 months after the death Late Saturday, police ar-
of a woman in their cus- rested Mohammed Sade-
tody sparked nationwide ghi, a young and relatively
protests. unknown actor, in a raid on
The morality police had his home that he appears
largely pulled back follow- to have broadcast on so-
ing the death of 22-year- cial media. Earlier, he had
old Mahsa Amini last Sep- posted a video in response
tember, as authorities Iranian women make their way along a sidewalk in downtown to another online video
struggled to contain mass Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, April 26, 2016. Associated Press showing a woman being
protests calling for the over- detained by the morality
throw of the theocracy that pecially in the capital, Teh- had not changed. Iran’s police. “Believe me, if I see
has ruled Iran for over four ran, and other cities. clerical rulers view the hijab such a scene, I might com-
decades. The morality police were as a key pillar of the Islam- mit murder,” he said.
The protests largely died only rarely seen patrolling ic revolution that brought The website of the semi-offi-
down earlier this year fol- the streets, and in Decem- them to power, and consid- cial Hamshahri daily, which
lowing a heavy crackdown ber, there were even some er more casual dress a sign is affiliated with the Tehran
in which over 500 protest- reports — later denied — of Western decadence. municipality, said he was
ers were killed and nearly that they had been dis- On Sunday, Gen. Saeed arrested for encouraging
20,000 detained. But many banded. Montazerolmahdi, a police people to use weapons
women continued to flout Authorities insisted through- spokesman, said the mo- against the police.q
the official dress code, es- out the crisis that the rules rality police would resume