Its detractors say Tunisia's draft constitution will give President Kais Saied unchecked powers, but for voter Baya, that's a welcome break from the country's old political elite.
"They were in power for 10 years and did nothing. Let this man do his job!" the 54-year-old said after voting in a referendum on the charter on Monday.
"We believe in him and we'll support him until the end."
Hundreds of Palestinian lawyers held a rare street protest Monday against what they described as the Palestinian Authority's "rule by decree", condemning president Mahmud Abbas for governing without a parliament.
The Palestinian Legislative Council -- created under the Oslo Peace Accords with Israel -- has been inactive since 2007, meaning Abbas has led without a functioning parliament for nearly all of his tenure as president.
But a new leadership at the Palestinian Bar Association has sought to pressure the PA.
In his busy Tel Aviv restaurant, chef Yair Yosefi adds a magic ingredient to his signature cake: Israel's first commercially produced vanilla providing what devotees claim is perhaps the strongest ever flavour.
It is made by Vanilla Vida, a new food-industry player that says its computer-guided curing process, along with other high-tech cultivation methods, can scientifically craft each batch of vanilla to a specific taste.
The company, founded in 2020, could prove to a be lucrative venture, producing what has become the world's most precious spice after saffron.
Tunisian President Kais Saied early Tuesday celebrated the almost certain victory of the "yes" vote in a referendum on a new constitution that strengthens the powers of the head of state and risks the return of authoritarian rule in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.
The referendum, held a year to the day after Saied sacked the government and froze parliament in what rivals have called a coup, saw at least 27.5 percent of 9.3 million registered voters cast ballots, Tunisia's ISIE electoral commission said late Monday after polls closed.
Russia's top diplomat reassured Egyptian leaders Sunday that their orders for Russian grain would be met as he began a tour of African countries dependent on imports for their food supply.
"We confirmed the commitment of Russian exporters of cereal products to meet their orders in full," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference after talks with Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.
"President Vladimir Putin stressed this during a recent telephone call with Egyptian President (Abdel Fattah) al-Sisi."
King Abdullah II protested in an interview published Sunday over attacks on Jordan's borders by "militias linked to Iran", following deadly clashes with drug smugglers on the frontier with Syria.
Jordan faces "regular attacks on its borders by militias linked to Iran", he told Al-Rai newspaper.
Abdullah called for "a change of behaviour by Iran" and said that Jordan "does not want tensions in the region".
Israeli forces killed two Palestinians during an overnight raid in the occupied West Bank, officials on the two sides said Sunday, in what Israel described as a shootout with gunmen.
The Israeli army said it carried out operations and used live fire in several locations, including in Nablus, adding it arrested four "individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activities".
The military said "hits" were identified against multiple "terrorists" and said there were no reported wounded on its own side.
Seventeen-year-old Istabraq Baraka fell pregnant soon after her wedding in the Gaza Strip. Three months later her husband killed her.
"She died from a severe beating, which caused bleeding on the brain and lungs and broken ribs," said her mother Nazmiya.
Sitting with her husband Suleiman in a garden in Abassan, near the city of Khan Yunis in the south of the Palestinian territory, the 53-year-old talks at lightning speed about last year's killing of one of her two daughters, as well as the loss of an unborn grandchild.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday told his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi that reviving the landmark 2015 deal on Tehran's nuclear capabilities was "still possible" but must happen "as soon as possible".
Macron also "expressed his disappointment" at the absence of progress after the suspension of talks in Vienna and underlined the need for Iran to return to the accord and implement its nuclear commitments, according to a French presidency statement.
Hundreds of people protested Saturday in Tunis against a draft constitution put forward by President Kais Saied, demanding his resignation two days before Tunisia votes on the disputed charter.
The referendum will take place a year to the day after Saied sacked the government and suspended parliament in a decisive blow against the country's often chaotic young democracy.
"Get out", the demonstrators yelled as they waved Tunisia's red-and-white flag at a gathering on Habib Bourguiba Avenue in the capital.
