🇹🇳TunisiaNorth Africa
Tunisia completes first order of 461 Chinese buses for public transport
via Business News2 min read
Tunisia's Ministry of Transport received the final shipment of new buses at the Port of La Goulette on Monday, April 20, 2026, completing an international order with the People's Republic of China. This last delivery of 136 buses finalizes an initial order of 461 vehicles intended to strengthen public collective transport in Tunisia. The latest tranche includes 118 buses for the Société des transports de Tunis Transtu and 18 buses for the Société régionale de transport de Béja. This marks the fourth and final phase of the program, with previous deliveries on February 7, 2026 132 buses, February 27, 2026 158 buses, and March 20, 2026 35 buses. This initiative addresses the structural difficulties of Tunisian public transport, which has faced an aging fleet, high maintenance costs, service disruptions, and longer wait times for passengers. The new buses are primarily allocated to regional transport companies and the Société nationale de transport interurbain SNTRI to enhance service nationwide, reduce territorial imbalances, and improve public service regularity. A second international order for 621 new buses is anticipated by the end of 2026, further supporting efforts to modernize the transport sector, which is crucial for access to work, education, healthcare, and administrative services.
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This summary was AI-generated from a story originally published by Business News.
During a series of site visits, President Kaïs Saïed addressed various administrative dysfunctions, particularly concerning water and electricity services. Visiting the Ghdir El Golla hydraulic complex and the Oued Medjerda flood protection project, the President acknowledged the efforts of technical teams but strongly criticized persistent failures. He stated that the situation, marked by repeated power outages and water distribution issues, cannot continue, emphasizing the need for officials to take responsibility and accelerate reforms. Saïed stressed that each region should have its own maintenance workshops and spare parts to reduce intervention times for repairs. He also highlighted the importance of a national water management strategy to better utilize resources and called for the preservation of national heritage, inspecting the restoration of the historic Qantara Bizerte bridge. The President's visits, following a period of absence, underscored his commitment to reforming state services and improving public administration responsiveness.
Tunisian Olympic champion Ahmed Ayoub Hafnaoui secured two gold medals at the Florida Summer Championships in the United States. On the night of Saturday, July 18 to Sunday, July 19, 2026, he won the 400-meter freestyle with a time of 3 minutes 50.45 seconds. This victory followed his earlier win in the 200-meter freestyle, where he finished in 1 minute 50.76 seconds. These performances indicate a strong return to form for the 23-year-old swimmer, who is aiming to be in peak condition for upcoming international events, including the Mediterranean Games in Taranto, Italy, scheduled from August 21 to September 3. Hafnaoui rose to prominence with his 400m freestyle Olympic title at the Tokyo 2021 Games. He further solidified his status at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, winning two world titles in the 800m and 1,500m freestyle, and a silver medal in the 400m. He also earned a world silver medal in the 1,500m short course in Abu Dhabi in 2021. His recent double gold in Florida sends a positive signal about his readiness to compete among the world's top swimmers.
On Sunday, July 19, 2026, users worldwide experienced a major outage affecting the web versions of Facebook and Instagram. Attempts to log in from computers resulted in error messages. Facebook displayed "Account temporarily unavailable. Your account is currently unavailable due to a site issue. We hope to resolve this quickly. Please try again in a few minutes." Instagram's web version showed "Sorry, something went wrong. We're working on it and we'll get it fixed as soon as we can." Mobile applications for both social networks appeared to be functioning normally, suggesting the outage primarily impacted browser-based services. The specialized website DownDetector reported a significant increase in user complaints early in the morning, confirming the widespread nature of the incident. Many users also reported their difficulties on other accessible social media platforms. As of now, Meta has not released a statement regarding the cause of the outage or an estimated time for full restoration of services. Users are advised to wait or use the mobile applications, which seem unaffected.