TUNIS: Tunisia has approved a new constitution granting unchecked powers to the office of President Kais Saied, the electoral board said, after a poorly attended referendum in which voters overwhelmingly backed the document.
Saied’s rivals accused the electoral board controlled by Saied of “fraud” and said his referendum, held Monday, had failed.

RAMALLAH: A group of 67 prominent Palestinian political figures on Wednesday launched the National Rescue Initiative under the leadership of former foreign minister Nasser Al-Kidwa.
Seeking major reforms to the Palestinian political system and institutions, the initiative said: “The success of this proposed mechanism requires an application of popular, political and legal pressure to mobilize support and effect change.
“It must be affirmed that the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) needs to be lifted out of its crisis and rebuilt to meet the challenges.”

CAIRO: India looks forward to pumping additional investments into Egypt amounting to about $700 million in the coming few years, New Delhi’s ambassador in Cairo has said.
Ajit Gupte told a meeting of Egyptian and Indian businessmen in Cairo that Indian investments in Egypt currently stand at $3.15 billion.
He said Indian companies are implementing a number of important projects in Egypt.

BEIRUT: Angry citizens on Wednesday stormed bakeries and pastry shops in Lebanon as the country’s food crisis deepened.
Long queues formed outside many stores with residents waiting impatiently in searing heat for subsidized bundles of bread. As stocks and tempers ran short, many people opted to buy other bakery products, some priced at 40,000 Lebanese pounds ($1.5) for 10 thin loaves.

LONDON: The US envoy for the Horn of Africa, Mike Hammer, on Monday had met with Egyptian government officials to discuss the north African country’s water security and a number of regional issues, the US embassy in Cairo said on Tuesday.
Hammer held talks with Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Egyptian House of Representatives Karim Darwish to discuss the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, regional challenges across the Middle East and Africa, and the robust, strategic partnership between the US and Egypt.