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Tunisian PM Cancels Italy Trip after Minister Gets Virus

Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi. (AP)
Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi. (AP)
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Tunisian PM Cancels Italy Trip after Minister Gets Virus

Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi. (AP)
Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi. (AP)

Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi canceled a planned visit Tuesday to Italy at the last minute, after one of his ministers accompanying him on a visit to France tested positive for the coronavirus.

Mechichi had been on a three-day trip to France, where he met French Prime Minister Jean Castex, as well as the presidents of the Senate and the National Assembly.

Castex's office said French officials who attended the meeting have been informed. Since sanitary protocols were respected, Castex is not considered as having been in close contact with an infected person, his office said.

Senior French political officials have repeatedly said that they adhere to strict sanitary rules during the pandemic.

According to the official TAP news agency, Minister of Economy and Finance Ali Kooli was found positive for Covid-19 during tests carried out in Paris before the planned trip to Rome. TAP reported that the other members of the delegation tested negative for the virus.

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US Journalist Missing in Syria Since 2012 Is Believed to Be Alive, Says Aid Group

A banner for journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, hangs outside the National Press Club building in Washington, US, May 2, 2023. (Reuters)
A banner for journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, hangs outside the National Press Club building in Washington, US, May 2, 2023. (Reuters)
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US Journalist Missing in Syria Since 2012 Is Believed to Be Alive, Says Aid Group

A banner for journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, hangs outside the National Press Club building in Washington, US, May 2, 2023. (Reuters)
A banner for journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, hangs outside the National Press Club building in Washington, US, May 2, 2023. (Reuters)

American journalist Austin Tice is believed to be still alive, according to the head of an international aid group.

Nizar Zakka, who runs the Hostage Aid Worldwide organization, said there has never been any proof that Tice, who has been missing since 2012, is dead.

He told reporters in Damascus on Tuesday that Tice was alive in January and being held by the authorities of ousted Bashar al-Assad. He added that US President Joe Biden said in August that Tice was alive.

Zakka said Tice was transferred between security agencies over the past 12 years, including in an area where Iranian-backed fighters were operating.

Asked if it was possible Tice had been taken out of the country, Zakka said Assad most likely kept him in Syria as a potential bargaining chip.

Biden said Dec. 8 that his administration believed Tice was alive and was committed to bringing him home, though he also acknowledged that “we have no direct evidence” of his status.