ГОЛОВНЕ

Tunisia is extending its virus curfew and banning demonstrations as it tries to stem a rapid rise in infections and calm tensions after a week of protests and rioting over economic troubles.New clashes between protesters and police broke out Saturday hours after the new virus restrictions were announced.Tunisia reported 103 virus-related deaths Thursday, the highest figure to date in the country of 11 million people. It also has among the highest rates in Africa. Local media reports cite doctors describing hospitals that are already too full to accept more virus patients.The rising infections are raising new alarm at a time when the government is facing unrest among young people nationwide over poverty and lack of jobs.Hundreds of protesters gathered Saturday on the central Tunis thoroughfare Avenue Bourguiba to demand the release of those arrested during clashes with police during the past week. Human rights groups say some 1,000 people were detained and dozens ordered jailed for vandalism and theft.Broken promisesThe protesters denounce what they say are broken economic promises from the government in the country that unleashed the Arab Spring uprisings a decade ago. With a third of young Tunisians out of work, most protesters are disillusioned youth with disparate grievances.At Saturday’s protest, organized by human rights groups and left-wing political parties, security forces struggled to contain demonstrators denouncing police repression and hurling insults at officers, who repeatedly charged the crowd.”No more fear, the street belongs to the people!” shouted demonstrators, and others chanted, “The people want the fall of the regime!” The crowd also chanted the slogan of Tunisia’s 2010-11 revolution: “Employment, freedom, dignity.”A demonstrator takes care of a man wounded by police during a protest in Tunis, Jan. 23, 2021. Tunisia is extending its virus curfew and banning demonstrations as it tries to stem a rapid rise in infections and calm tensions from protests.The demonstration had been authorized for two hours, and police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds when the two hours were up.According to the new virus rules announced Saturday, gatherings will be prohibited in public areas until February 14 and the country’s existing 8 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew will be extended until then, Tunisian Health Ministry spokesperson Nissaf Ben Alaya said.Starting Monday, the government is also forbidding travel between regions and ordering all people older than 65 to stay at home as part of stricter virus measures announced Saturday by Ben Alaya.Restaurants and bars will remain closed except for takeout food. Schools and universities can resume studies Monday, but many classes will be transferred online.’Drastic measures’Ben Alaya threatened “drastic measures” against violators, saying the country is “at a critical juncture” in its battle against COVID-19.The scientific committee that advises the government on the pandemic recommended a strict lockdown on weekends, the director of the Pasteur Institute in Tunis, Hachemi Louzir, told official news agency TAP. But the government steered clear of that in Saturday’s announcement as it tries to balance health concerns with economic troubles. The country is in a protracted financial crisis that has been worsened by the pandemic.As of late Saturday, Tunisia had registered more than 6,100 virus-related deaths and more than 195,000 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.  
…

Protests have swept towns and cities throughout Tunisia for a week, often turning violent as demonstrators denounce what they say are broken promises from the government, which hasn’t been able to turn around an economy on the verge of bankruptcy.Many protesters are disenfranchised young people, a third of whom are unemployed, taking their voices to the street after being left behind by the country’s leadership. But Tunisian students, artists and left-wing activists have also protested, only to be met with tear gas and a muscular police response.Rights groups say the police have arrested about 1,000 people — many of them minors — for alleged acts of vandalism and theft, while parents and families are now also joining the protests, lobbying for the release of their children.Other people are simply exploiting the chaos to loot supermarkets and smash up local shops.The Tunis suburb of Hay Ettadhamen — among the capital’s poorest districts — saw some of this week’s most regular and violent demonstrations. One of the most densely populated areas in North Africa, it has a population of more than 140,000.’Vandals and criminals’Tunisian media were quick to label all the protesters “vandals and criminals,” but the identity of the demonstrators is complex and many of the protesters were peaceful. In Hay Ettadhamen, The Associated Press spoke to young protesters desperate for a positive vision of the future. None of them would give their full name or have their photo taken, for fear of repercussions from law enforcement.They also have a deep distrust of the media.”It’s not a circus for you here” said one café owner, Mohammed, who would only give his first name. “You only come here when there is chaos. Where are you the rest of the time?”Aziz says his district is bankrupt, “There’s no money here,” said the 17-year-old, who works in a metal workshop. Aziz is not his real name, which he did not want to provide for fear of state reprisals.”I turn 18 in a few months and then I’ll try to make the crossing to Europe with my friends — there’s money there, at least.”In 2020, attempts to migrate by sea soared, with Italian authorities reporting 12,883 irregular arrivals from Tunisia, compared with 2,654 in 2019.Around a third of 15- to 29-year-olds are unemployed in Tunisia. Some young people, faced with few options, make money stealing phones or selling drugs.Tarik, 16, is an athlete for a national team but also gives an alias. Despite his easy smile, he says he feels lost and hopeless. He feels a lot of disgust and anger toward the police and the state.He tells an anecdote about trying to get his passport approved to attend an international sports competition — three times, he says, it was rejected simply because of prejudice against the inhabitants of Hay Ettadhamen.Unlike some of his friends, Tarik still attends school, and is a promising sportsman, but still feels he has no future.Tarik and his teenage friends were eager to show videos of themselves throwing fireworks and rocks at the police, the pride visible on their faces.”I hit the tear gas canisters back at them with a tennis racket!” said another. In a country with less and less to offer them, these teens have little to fear and little to lose.Tear gas and armored vehiclesPolice brutality has defined these protests. On Tuesday night, the AP followed the police and national guard — armed with tear gas and armored vehicles — as they pushed back the crowd throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails, often shooting into narrow side-streets and causing an outcry from inhabitants as houses filled up with gas.Videos of police beating protesters then circulated on social media. The young people the AP interviewed were outspoken about their hatred for the police, brimming with stories of day-to-day injustices. They said that instead of President Kaïs Saied, they’d rather see El Castro — a Tunisian rapper from a similarly impoverished neighborhood — as president.A coalition of Tunisian NGOs, including the National Union of Tunisian Journalists and Lawyers Without Borders, held a news conference Thursday to condemn the police violence — which they said was in response to “legitimate protest” — and media rhetoric that has framed the protesters as criminals.”These young people did not commit crimes. They are protesters. They protested against economic and social policy,” said Mehdi Jlassi, an activist and member of the journalists’ union. They don’t even have hope to dream of a future that is better than the prison they find themselves in.””There is no dialogue between the state and these young people, so they turn to radical solutions, radical protest. … That’s why you see their frustration against the police.”Rim Ben Ismail, a psychologist, previously carried out a study of 800 young people in some of the neighborhoods that have seen protests in the past week.Those she interviewed tended to be jobless, from poor families or had left school early. In the past decade, 1 million children in Tunisia have dropped out of school. Although she noted that the phenomenon of minors engaging with such protests needs more study, Ben Ismail said that their experience of the 2011 revolution may have deeply impacted them.Visiting schools in 2011 “we saw that these children had lived through so many violent acts — the noise of the firearms, death, violence in their neighborhood — and that this had troubled them and traumatized them.”She said studies showed that prior experience of violence — in the neighborhood or in the home — would lead to a tendency to engage with such forms of radical protest.”These same young people find that the only way they can express themselves is by violence,” she said.
…

A raging pandemic, tumultuous presidential election and deadly Capitol insurrection have combined to make the annual tradition of Dry January less than air-tight for some.Not Sarah Arvizo. She considers it her easiest yet.As much as the 32-year-old Manhattanite would love to partake in a little “vinopeutics,” she said the abstinence from alcohol period she’s participated in for several years has been made smoother this time around by her at-home pandemic life and the closing of bars and restaurants.”Longing for those days, for sure,” said the social drinker who lives alone. “But unless I want to freeze outside, that’s largely off the table this year.”Eight-year-old Dry January, which comes at the height of resolution season after the holidays, has brought on the desired benefits for many among the millions participating around the world. They’re losing quarantine weight, experiencing more clarity and sleeping easier.Others with lockdown time on their hands and round-the-clock access to TV news and the home liquor cabinet are struggling to meet the challenge. Some who have already cheated hoisted a glass on Inauguration Day.Sue Cornick, 52, in Los Angeles, wanted to experience Dry January after her consumption of alcohol rose from three or four days a week to five or six. But she knew pulling the plug wouldn’t work before a celebratory Inauguration Day, so it’s Dry February for her.”Full disclosure, my Dry February will be more like almost dry. I’ll definitely have a cheat day here and there. Just no daily habit,” she said.Others are holding steadfast but said the horrid year that was and the chaotic events of January have made it far more difficult. The odds aren’t in their favor. Studies over the years have shown that a small percentage of New Year’s resolutions overall are actually achieved.Peta Grafham, a 61-year-old retired IT specialist in Tryon, North Carolina, signed on to Dry January after watching her alcohol intake creep up during the pandemic and months of political and racial turmoil.”I’m a social creature and isolating has been difficult. I found that I would open a bottle of wine and watch TV, usually CNN, and could knock back a bottle in less than two hours. Then I would move on to the Grand Marnier,” said Grafham, who lives with her husband. “I announced to my friends and family that I was doing a Dry January, so my pride is what’s keeping me sober.”She hasn’t had a drop since December 31. Her spouse didn’t join, but she said he’s an efficient nurser of bourbon or vodka and has supported her effort.”I seemed incapable of limiting myself to just one glass,” Grafham said.According to a recent survey from the American Psychological Association, 78% of adults report the COVID-19 pandemic has been a significant source of stress, and 65% said the amount of uncertainty in the world is causing strain.At 27, Emily Roethle in Encinitas, California, nearly broke on Jan. 6, when a riotous mob descended on the Capitol.”This is my second Dry January,” she said. “It’s difficult this year. I’ve looked to my glass of wine to separate work from home as I work remote, but in ways it’s easier as there’s no happy hour or dinner invitations.”While addiction treatment experts note that a month of forced sobriety may not have a lasting impact and may lead to binge drinking in February, others believe the show of sobriety can’t hurt.Dry January began after a woman training for her first half-marathon, Emily Robinson in Britain, decided to quit drinking for the month. She later went to work for an alcohol awareness organization that launched a national campaign. The event slowly went global.Well before that, in 1942, Finland began a program called Raitis Tammikuu, meaning sober January, to assist the war effort against the Soviet Union, said Hilary Sheinbaum, who wrote a new book about Dry January, “The Dry Challenge.” She said she wrote from personal experience.”On Dec. 31, 2016, moments before the ball dropped, I made a Dry January bet with a friend,” Sheinbaum said. “In the end, I ended up going the full 31 days. My friend did not. He ended up buying me a very fancy meal, but I had the opportunity to see how alcohol was affecting my day-to-day life. With Dry January, I had clearer skin. I was sleeping better. I had so much more financial savings at the end of the month. This is my fifth Dry January.”When she took on her first dry challenge, she was working regularly at booze-infused events as a red-carpet reporter, and a food and beverage writer. She was also single and going on a lot of dates. Now in a two-year relationship, she and her live-in boyfriend do Dry January together.She and others note that the ritual isn’t meant as a substitute for addiction treatment and recovery.Dr. Joseph DeSanto, a medical doctor and addiction specialist for the recovery program BioCorRx, agreed but said Dry January may give those in trouble “something to rally around, especially if they’re not in a 12-step group, and provide a sense of community.”He added: “Any kind of harm reduction is advantageous. If someone is a heavy drinker, they could benefit greatly from switching to moderate to light drinking, even if they can’t stop altogether. I’ve never met an alcoholic that felt worse from drinking less or not drinking.”
…

Beginning Friday, foreign nationals granted special permission to fly to Australia take a COVID-19 test within 72 hours of their departure. Masks will also be compulsory on all international flights.Australia has had a fortress-like approach to COVID-19. It closed its borders to most foreign travelers in March to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus.But 25,000 overseas passengers have been granted travel exemptions since the pandemic began, while a similar number have been rejected. People allowed into Australia include those wishing to attend a funeral of a close relative, those needing urgent medical care or key workers with critical skills.Arrivals, including foreign diplomats and transit passengers, now need to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test at check-in prior to departure.There are some exemptions. They include international air crew, children under the age of 4, and travelers flying from New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.All passengers face 14 days’ mandatory hotel quarantine on arrival in Australia. Masks will also be compulsory on international flights into the country.“These are difficult and will be challenging for many people, and I am apologetic that we need to put in place these restrictions,” said Greg Hunt, Australia’s federal health minister. “The fact that we have new, more virulent strains that are emerging around the world – these remind us of precisely why we have been able to keep Australians safe, but we have to be ever-vigilant and responding to international events as they occur.”Australian citizens and permanent residents have been allowed to return to Australia. They, too, must go into quarantine in a hotel at their own expense, but they do not need to take a COVID-19 test before their flight home.Along with border closures, mass screenings for the coronavirus have been a key part in Australia’s strategy to contain the virus. More than 12.5 million tests – an average of one for every two people – have been carried out.Strict lockdowns have also been important, and there are signs the economic harm inflicted by the pandemic is beginning to ease.Official government figures show that nine out of 10 of the jobs lost during the coronavirus crisis were recovered before Christmas, with the Australian economy rebounding as outbreaks were brought under control.The health department estimates there are 170 active COVID-19 infections in Australia.Nearly 29,000 coronavirus cases have been reported in Australia since the pandemic began, and 909 people have died, according to the department of health.
…

Despite being educated, skilled, and capable, millions of people worldwide are finding themselves without a job or any income due to COVID-19. Now, many are exploring new streams of revenue tapping into the digital economy — which the World Bank says is a “driver of growth and innovation in Africa.” On this edition of Our Voices, co-host Auriane Isis Itangishaka looks at virtual job opportunities that exist, and introduce you to people, especially women who are making money online during the lockdown.
…