Tunisia, Sudan, Mexico.

Today's three stories you should know.

May 15, 2023

Tunisia

Tunisia’s main opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi has been sentenced to a year in prison on terror-related charges, according to his lawyer. Ghannouchi was speaker of the country’s parliament before it was dissolved by President Kais Saied in July 2021 in what many saw as a power grab. The Human Rights Watch group has said his trial was nothing but an effort "to neutralise the country's largest political party." Saied’s critics say he has morphed into a dictator since shuttering parliament, rewriting the constitution and taking over most executive powers. He has since embarked on a wave of arrests, sweeping up political opponents, journalists and civil society activists.

Sudan

It is now one month since fighting erupted in Sudan. Sadly, there appears to be no end in sight. The UN said today that almost one million people have been forced out of their homes by the fighting. The army and the powerful Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group are dug in and continuing to fight around the capital Khartoum despite several failed attempts to call a truce. An agreement to protect civilians appears useless, too, with reports of attacks on civilians, including rapes.

Mexico

After four years of trying, Mexico has finally succeeded in offloading a luxury presidential plane that had become something of an albatross around the neck of President López Obrador. The president had made getting rid of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner a campaign promise when he ran for election, saying it was a symbol of government excess. After a much mocked plan to raffle it failed, Tajikistan finally agreed to take it off Mexico’s hands for $92m. It was delivered today and Obrador said the money would be used to build two new hospitals in Oaxaca state and Guerrero.