Opposition

Arrest comes after appeals court handed jail terms to opposition leaders, businessmen and lawyers on charges of conspiracy to overthrow President Kais Saied.

Tunisian police have arrested prominent opposition figure Chaima Issa at a protest in the capital Tunis on Saturday, lawyers said.

The protest came after an appeals court on Friday handed jail terms of up to 45 years to opposition leaders, businessmen and lawyers on charges of conspiracy to overthrow President Kais Saied. Issa was handed a 20-year sentence during the trial.

“They will arrest me shortly,” Issa had told the Reuters news agency moments before her arrest.

“I say to the Tunisians, continue to protest and reject tyranny. We are sacrificing our freedom for you”.

She described the charges as unjust and politically motivated.

Police are also widely expected to arrest Najib Chebbi, the head of the opposition National Salvation Front, the main opposition coalition challenging Saied.

He received a 12-year prison sentence, and opposition figure Ayachi Hammami received a five-year sentence.

Human Rights Watch on Friday described the trial as a “travesty of justice”, saying it was “political, unfair, and without the slightest evidence” against the defendants.

In a statement to the AFP news agency, the US-based rights group condemned the “shameless instrumentalisation of the judiciary to eliminate Saied’s opponents”.

Meanwhile, UK-based rights group Amnesty International said the ruling was “an appalling indictment of the Tunisian justice system”, condemning “a relentless campaign to erode rights and silence dissent” in Tunisia.

During a sweeping power grab in July 2021, Saied suspended parliament and expanded executive power so he could rule by decree. Since then, the president has jailed many of his critics.

Many of the powers that Saied had taken for himself were later enshrined in a new constitution, ratified in a widely boycotted 2022 referendum, while media figures and lawyers critical of Saied have been prosecuted and detained under a “fake news” law enacted that same year.

Saied says his actions are legal and aimed at ending years of chaos and rampant corruption.

The Gambia hosts Issa Tchiroma Bakary after Paul Biya, Cameroon’s leader for 43 years, wins yet another election.

Cameroon’s opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary has fled to The Gambia “for the purpose of ensuring his safety” in the wake of the recent presidential election that returned longtime ruler Paul Biya to power amid deadly protests.

The Gambian government confirmed in a statement on Sunday that it was hosting Tchiroma “temporarily” in the country on “humanitarian grounds” while pursuing a “peaceful and diplomatic resolution” to post-electoral tensions in Cameroon.

The statement, posted on the Facebook page of the office of Gambian President Adama Barrow, said The Gambia was working with regional partners like Nigeria to “support a peaceful and negotiated outcome” following October’s disputed election.

Official election results showed 92-year-old Biya, the world’s oldest head of state, secured his eighth term in office with 53.7 percent of the vote, against 35.2 percent for Tchiroma, a former government minister leading the Cameroon National Salvation Front.

But Tchiroma, who claimed vote tampering, stated he was the election’s real winner. “This is not democracy, it is electoral theft, a constitutional coup as blatant as it is shameful,” he said at the time.

The opposition leader repeatedly urged supporters to protest against the official election outcome, urging them to stage “dead city” operations by closing shops and halting other public activities.

The Cameroonian government has confirmed that at least five people were killed during the protests, although the opposition and civil society groups claim the figures are much higher.

The government has said it plans to initiate legal proceedings against Tchiroma for his “repeated calls for insurrection.”

Biya came to power in 1982 following the resignation of Cameroon’s first president and has ruled since, following a 2008 constitutional amendment that abolished term limits.

He has ruled the country with an iron fist, repressing all political opposition.

Four new labour codes come into force as India seeks to attract investment and strengthen manufacturing.

India has announced a sweeping set of labour reforms, saying it will implement four long-delayed labour codes that the government says will modernise outdated regulations and extend stronger protections to millions of workers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X on Friday that the overhaul would provide “a strong foundation for universal social security, minimum and timely payment of wages, safe workplaces and remunerative opportunities”.

He said the changes would spur job creation and lift productivity across the economy.

The labour ministry echoed that message, saying the reforms place “workers, especially women, youth, unorganised, gig and migrant workers, firmly at the centre of labour governance”, with expanded social security and portable entitlements that apply nationwide.

The government says replacing 29 fragmented laws with four unified codes covering wages, industrial relations, social security and occupational safety will simplify compliance and make India more attractive for investment.

Many of India’s existing labour laws date back to the British colonial era and have long been criticised by businesses as complicated, inconsistent and a barrier to scaling up manufacturing, an industry that still accounts for less than 20 percent of India’s nearly $4-trillion gross domestic product (GDP).

The new rules formalise changes approved by parliament in 2020 but stalled for years due to political resistance and pushback from several states and unions.

The reforms introduce significant shifts in how factories operate. Women can now legally work night shifts, firms have greater room to extend working hours, and the threshold for companies requiring prior approval for layoffs has been raised from 100 to 300 workers.

Union opposition

Officials argue this flexibility will encourage employers to expand operations without fear of lengthy bureaucratic delays.

For the first time, the codes also define gig and platform work, offering legal recognition and expanding social protection to a fast-growing segment of the labour force.

Government estimates suggest the gig economy could reach more than 23.5 million workers by 2030, up sharply from about 10 million in 2024/25.

Economists say the changes may initially strain small and informal firms but could strengthen household incomes over time.

“In the short term, they may hurt small, unorganised firms, but in the long run … with minimum wages and increased social security, it could be positive for both working conditions and consumption,” said Devendra Kumar Pant of India Ratings & Research, speaking to the Reuters news agency.

Trade unions, however, remain fiercely opposed. “The labour codes have been implemented despite strong opposition from the trade unions and it will snatch the workers’ rights, including fixed-term jobs and rights available under the earlier labour laws,” said Amarjeet Kaur of the All India Trade Union Congress.

Vote on release of Justice Department files on late sex offender is expected to pass in the Republican-controlled House.

Jawhar Ben Mbarek’s sister said his health had ‘severely deteriorated’ and a ‘dangerous toxin’ was detected in his body.

Jailed Tunisian opposition figure Jawhar Ben Mbarek has been hospitalised due to severe dehydration, his family has said, as his health continues to deteriorate after more than two weeks on hunger strike.

Ben Mbarek, the cofounder of Tunisia’s main opposition alliance, the National Salvation Front, started his hunger strike on October 29 to protest his detention in jail since February 2023.

In a Facebook post on Friday, Ben Mbarek’s sister, Dalila Ben Mbarek Msaddek, warned that her brother’s health had now “severely deteriorated” and doctors detected “a highly dangerous toxin” affecting his kidneys.

Msaddek said Ben Mbarek had “received treatment but refused nutritional supplements” at the hospital where he was transferred on Thursday night, insisting on continuing his now 17-day protest.

The politician was discharged from hospital on Friday afternoon and returned to prison, Msaddek added.

On Wednesday, Ben Mbarek’s lawyer Hanen Khmiri said he had “faced torture” at the hands of guards at Belli prison, as they attempted to force him to end his protest.

“He was severely beaten, we saw fractures and bruises on his body,” Khmiri said, adding that she had filed a complaint with the public prosecutor, who promised to investigate.

“He told me that four of the prison guards beat him severely in a place where there is no surveillance camera,” she said.

Ben Mbarek is one of the most prominent opponents of Tunisian strongman President Kais Saied, who has been in power since 2019.

In April, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of “conspiracy against state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group”, in a mass trial of opposition figures slammed by human rights groups as politically motivated.

Ben Mbarek has denied the charges, which he has called fabricated.

Rights groups have warned of a sharp decline in civil liberties in Tunisia since a sweeping power grab by Saied in July 2021, when he dissolved parliament and expanded executive power so he could rule by decree.

That decree was later enshrined in a new constitution, ratified by a widely boycotted 2022 referendum. Media figures and lawyers critical of Saied have also been prosecuted and detained under a harsh “fake news” law enacted the same year.

Last week, Ben Mbarek’s family and prominent members of Tunisia’s political opposition announced they would join him in a collective hunger strike.

Among the participants was Issam Chebbi, the leader of the centrist Al Joumhouri (Republican) Party, who is also behind bars after being convicted in the same mass trial as Ben Mbarek earlier this year.

Rached Ghannouchi, the 84-year-old leader of the Ennahdha party, who is also serving a hefty prison sentence, also said he would join the protest. Chebbi and Ghannouchi’s current condition is not known.

Prison authorities have maintained the men are under “continuous medical supervision” and denied “rumours about the deterioration in the health of any detainees”.

WASHINGTON — The House is scheduled to be back in session Wednesday with a vote expected in the evening on a spending package that, if approved and signed by President Trump, will end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

The legislation, which the Senate passed Monday night, is expected to narrowly pass the House, where Republicans hold a slim majority. House Democrats are largely anticipated to oppose the deal, which does not include a core demand: an extension to Affordable Care Act healthcare tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he believes the deal is poised to pass by the end of the day.

“We believe the long national nightmare will be over tonight,” Johnson told reporters in Washington. “It was completely and utterly foolish and pointless.”

House Democrats were scheduled to meet ahead of the floor vote to discuss their vote. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday night that there is a “strong expectation” that Democrats will be “strongly opposed” to the shutdown deal when it comes to final vote.

If the tax credits lapse, premiums will more than double on average for more than 20 million Americans who use the healthcare marketplace, according to independent analysts at the research firm KFF.

The spending bill, if approved, will fund the government through Jan. 30 and reinstate federal workers who were laid off during the shutdown. It will also guarantee back pay for federal employees who were furloughed or who were working without pay during the budget impasse.

Passage of the bill would mark a crucial moment on the 43rd day of the shutdown, which left thousands of federal workers without pay, millions of Americans uncertain on whether they would receive food assistance and travelers facing delays at airports across the country.

A vote is expected to begin after 4 p.m. EST — after Johnson swears in Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who was elected seven weeks ago. Once sworn in, Grijalva is set to become the final vote needed to force a floor vote on a petition demanding the Trump administration release files connected to Jeffrey Epstein.

The swearing-in ceremony will soon lay the groundwork for a House vote that Trump has long tried to avoid. It would come as the Epstein saga was reignited on Wednesday morning when Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released new emails in which the late sex trafficker said Trump “knew about the girls” that he was victimizing.

The emails are part of a trove of documents from Epstein’s estate released to the committee.

Nov. 10 (UPI) — Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto designated his father-in-law, former President Suharto, a national hero on Monday, according to reports, despite opposition from critics who accuse the late dictator of committing human rights abuses during his 33-year rule.

Prabowo designated Suharto along with nine others for the prestigious title during National Heroes Day commemorations at the State Palace in Jakarta, The Jakarta Post and Indonesian news agency Antara reported.

National Heroes Day falls on November 10 to mark the day that in 1945, when Indonesians fought the British and allied forces in pursuit of an independent Indonesia following the fall of Japan.

Suharto became president after Sukarno was stripped of his power in 1967 and was then formally elected in 1968. He remained president until his resignation amid mass protests in 1998, which were sparked by his re-election in an uncontested election.

Often called Indonesia’s strongman, Suharto’s anti-communist stance during the Cold War secured him support from Western nations, which helped shield him some of his regime’s alleged human rights abuses.

Critics have accused the authoritarian leader of overseeing the killings of an estimated 500,000 to 1 million alleged communists during 1965-66. He is also accused of being responsible for the so-called Petrus Killings of 1982-85 when thousands of state-ordered extrajudicial killings were carried out, as well as alleged genocide in East Timor, among many other allegations.

The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation criticized the Subianto administration Monday as “unethical, destructive to law and human rights, indifferent to anti-corruption efforts and demeaning to the true values of heroism” over Suharto’s designation.

“This title should only be bestowed upon those who truly fought for independence, justice humanity and the sovereignty of the people — not upon a leader whose rule was marked by authoritarianism and human rights violations,” the YLBHI said in a statement.

“YLBHI strongly condemns this conferral of the hero title, which further demonstrates that Prabowo’s regime has become a government that betrays the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, betrays and harms the people and has clearly engaged in disgraceful conduct.”

Opposition party Chadema said that its deputy secretary-general, Amani Golugwa, was arrested early on Saturday.

Police in Tanzania have arrested a senior opposition official after more than 200 people were charged with treason over a wave of protests against last month’s general election.

Opposition party Chadema said that its deputy secretary-general, Amani Golugwa, was arrested early on Saturday. He is the third senior Chadema official in detention, after leader Tundu Lissu and deputy leader John Heche were arrested before the October 29 vote.

The arrest comes a day after more than 200 people were charged with treason for alleged involvement in the protests triggered by the disputed election.

Lawyer Peter Kibatala told the news agency AFP that more than 250 people “were arraigned in three separate cases … and they’re all charged with two sets of offences.”

“The first set of offences is a conspiracy to commit treason. And the second set of offences is treason itself,” he said.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who took office in 2021 after the death of her predecessor, won the poll with 98 percent of the vote, according to the electoral commission, but Chadema has branded the election a “sham”.

It said in a statement on X that the government intended to “cripple the Party’s leadership” and “paralyse its operations”, adding that police were now targeting “lower levels”, with some being “forced to confess to organising demonstrations”.

Police confirmed the arrest of Golugwa and nine other people in connection with an investigation into the unrest, which saw security forces launch a crackdown on protesters.

“The police force, in collaboration with other defence and security agencies, is continuing a serious manhunt,” the police said in a statement, adding that Chadema’s Secretary-General John Mnyika and the party’s head of communications, Brenda Rupia, were on its wanted list.

High death toll

Protests erupted on October 29 in the cities of Dar-es-Salaam, Arusha, Mwanza and Mbeya, as well as several regions across the country, police said in Saturday’s statement, laying out the extent of the unrest for the first time.

The authorities have so far declined to release the death toll.

The Catholic Church in Tanzania has said that hundreds of people were killed. Chadema has claimed that more than 1,000 people were killed and that security forces had hidden bodies to cover up the scale of the brutality.

The Kenya Human Rights Commission, a watchdog group in the neighbouring country, asserted in a statement on Friday that 3,000 people were killed, with thousands still missing.

The commission provided a link to pictorial evidence in its possession showing many victims “bore head and chest gunshot wounds, leaving no doubt these were targeted killings, not crowd-control actions”.

The African Union said this week that the election “did not comply with AU principles, normative frameworks, and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections.”

AU observers reported ballot stuffing at several polling stations, and cases where voters were issued multiple ballots.

Single-party rule has been the norm in Tanzania since the advent of multiparty politics in 1992. But Hassan is accused of ruling with an iron fist that does not tolerate opposition.

SACRAMENTO — Antonio Villaraigosa, former Los Angeles mayor and current candidate for California governor, on Friday said he opposed the creation of a state-level single payer healthcare system.

Villaraigosa’s stance separated him from three rival Democrats who appeared on stage with him at a candidate forum at UC Riverside.

Candidates, who were asked about a single-payer healthcare system during a question-and-answer session that only involved raising their hands, did not provide explanations for their stances. But during earlier remarks, Villaraigosa had said he had no interest in selling “snake oil” solutions to voters on complex matters like healthcare.

The divide stood out because the four Democrats were otherwise closely aligned on prioritizing healthcare if elected in the 2026 race.

Aside from Villaraigosa, the candidates included: former state Controller Betty Yee, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and California Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.

During the event, candidates were asked how they would approach a range of issues that impact an individual’s health, including aging, nutrition and mental illness.

The four contenders were largely on the same page, with all promising to work on removing barriers to care by expanding healthcare coverage and supporting programs that increase access to fresh food and mental health services. They all voiced support for creating pathways and incentives for students to study healthcare to help with industry staffing shortages.

Each also offered slightly different insights when asked a question about how to best support the “sandwich generation,” or those who are caring for both children and aging parents.

Becerra recalled how he and his siblings took turns caring for their aging father, which allowed him to spend his final years at home.

“There is nothing better because they are being cared for by those who love them,” Becerra said. “If I am governor, home care will be compensated.”

Yee said income tax credits could help and explained she would work with employers to improve employee leave options.

Thurmond said California should create a long-term care system for seniors similar to the system the state developed to help homeowners unable to access homeowners insurance.

The event was organized by Health Matters, a nonpartisan forum on health and equity that is organized by 11 health-focused foundations in California.

Prominent members of Tunisia’s political opposition have announced they will be joining a collective hunger strike in solidarity with jailed politician Jawhar Ben Mbarek, whose health they say has severely deteriorated after nine days without food.

Ben Mbarek, the cofounder of Tunisia’s main opposition alliance, the National Salvation Front, launched a hunger strike last week to protest his detention since February 2023.

Ben Mbarek’s father, veteran activist Ezzeddine Hazgui, said during a news conference in the capital Tunis on Friday that his son is in a “worrisome condition, and his health is deteriorating”.

Hazgui said his family would launch a hunger strike in solidarity with his jailed son.

“We will not forgive [Tunisian President] Kais Saied,” he added.

The leaders of Tunisia’s major opposition parties also declared on Friday that they would go on hunger strike in solidarity with Ben Mbarek.

Among them is Issam Chebbi, the leader of the centrist Al Joumhouri (Republican) Party, who is also behind bars after being convicted in the same mass trial as Ben Mbarek earlier this year. Wissam Sghaier, another Al Joumhouri leader, said some party members would follow suit.

Rached Ghannouchi, the 84-year-old leader of the Ennahdha party, who is also serving a hefty prison sentence, announced he was joining the hunger protest.

Ghannouchi was convicted in July of “conspiring against state security”, adding to previous convictions, including money laundering, for which he has been sentenced to more than 20 years in prison and for which he claims innocence.

A post on his official Facebook page said Ghannouchi’s hunger strike sought to support Ben Mbarek, but he was also taking a stand to defend “the independence of justice and freedom in the country”.

Ben Mbarek was sentenced in April to 18 years behind bars on charges of “conspiracy against state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group”, in a mass trial slammed by human rights groups as politically motivated.

Rights groups have warned of a sharp decline in civil liberties in the North African country since Saied won the presidency in 2019.

A sweeping power grab in July 2021, when he dissolved parliament and expanded executive power so he could rule by decree, saw Saied jail many of his critics. That decree was later enshrined in a new constitution – ratified by a widely boycotted 2022 referendum – while media figures and lawyers critical of Saied have also been prosecuted and detained under a harsh “fake news” law enacted the same year.

Most recently, lawyer and outspoken Saied critic Ahmed Souab was sentenced to five years in prison on October 31 under Decree Law 54, as the legislation is known.

The Tunisian League for Human Rights said there have been “numerous attempts” to persuade Ben Mbarek to suspend his hunger strike, but he has refused, saying he is “committed to maintain it until the injustice inflicted upon him is lifted”.

Prison authorities denied on Wednesday that the health of any of its prisoners had deteriorated because of a hunger strike.

The Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK said questions have been raised regarding the prison administration’s compliance with laws governing medical care for detainees on hunger strike and the “safeguarding of their right to physical safety and human dignity”.

“Tunisian law explicitly stipulates the state’s responsibility to protect the life of any prisoner, even if that person chooses hunger strike as a form of protest,” the rights group said in a statement on Friday.

“The prison administration is therefore obliged to ensure appropriate medical care and regular monitoring,” it said, adding that Ben Mbarek’s protest reflects “a broader climate of political and social tension that transcends his personal situation”.

“His action represents a form of protest against detention conditions and judicial processes that many view as influenced by current political polarisation,” the group said.

“Ultimately, the case of Jawhar Ben Mbarek exposes a deeper crisis concerning respect for the rule of law and the principle of accountability,” it added.

يواصل أستاذ القانون الدستوري جوهر بن مبارك إضرابه المفتوح عن الطعام في محبسه منذ 29 أكتوبر الماضي داخل السجن المدني ببلي (ولاية نابل)، احتجاجاً على اعتقاله فيما يُعرف بقضية “التآمر على أمن الدولة”.

وتظهر المعطيات المتوفرة أن الحالة الصحية لبن مبارك تزداد هشاشة مع استمرار… pic.twitter.com/HrHwe14juE

— المنظمة العربية لحقوق الإنسان (@AohrUk_ar) November 7, 2025

Translation: Constitutional law professor Jawhar Ben Mbarek continues his open-ended hunger strike in his place of detention since October 29 inside the civil prison of Belli (Nabeul Governorate), in protest against his arrest in what is known as the “conspiracy against state security” case.

Available data show that Ben Mbarek’s health condition is becoming increasingly fragile with the continued complete abstention from food, which places his physical state in a critical phase requiring precise and constant medical monitoring.