Ben Ali

Tunisia's President Zine el Abidine ben Ali was reelected for a fifth term with an overwhelming 89% of the vote -- his weakest performance yet but more than enough to show his solid grip on the nation. Ben Ali was last reelected in 2004 with more than 94% and previously had received 99% of the vote on two occasions. He took power in a bloodless coup in 1987. This time around, Ben Ali, who is 73, was running for his last mandate under the current constitution, which sets the age limit for a presidential candidate at 75.

Ben Ali, 82, the founder of Ben's Chili Bowl diner, a landmark in Washington's black business and entertainment district and a frequent stop for politicians and celebrities, died of congestive heart failure Wednesday at his home in Washington. Ali opened the restaurant with his wife, Virginia, in an old movie house in 1958, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was president. It became a longtime fixture in the black business community, serving up bowls of chili and its trademark chili-covered half-smoke sausages.

Pamela Blake Actress in action serials Pamela Blake, 94, a B-movie actress known for her roles in such late 1940s action serials as "Chick Carter, Detective" and "Ghost of Zorro," died of natural causes Tuesday at a Las Vegas care facility, her family said. Born in 1915 in Oakland, Blake came to Hollywood after winning a beauty contest at age 17. Originally known by her given name, Adele Pearce, she adopted the stage name Pamela Blake in 1942, the same year she signed with MGM, according to the All Movie Internet database.

TUNISIA * Tunisians voted in a referendum that was expected to approve changes to the constitution, enabling President Zine el Abidine ben Ali to remain in power practically for life. The first national referendum since the North African country gained independence from France in 1956 was for voters to approve amendments to about half of the 1959 constitution's 78 articles. Two of the new articles cancel limits on presidential terms and extend the age limit for candidates to 75 from 70.

Tunisia is one of the Arab world's most progressive countries when it comes to education and the rights of women, but when it comes to political criticism and dissent, it's a different story. For years, the harsh treatment of opponents and the stifling of the press by the regime of President Zine el Abdine ben Ali have been an open secret.

Favored Pistols And Roses held off Sunny Sunrise by a neck to win the $81,050 Ben Ali Handicap on Keeneland's closing day Friday. Sunny Sunrise, seeking a second consecutive victory in the 1 1/8-mile race, was three lengths ahead of third-place Compadre. Returning to the scene of his victory in the 1992 Blue Grass Stakes, Pistols And Roses was timed in 1:51 3/5 under Mike Smith.

The political opposition gained a foothold in the National Assembly for the first time in this nation's post-colonial history, as President Zine Abidine ben Ali, running unopposed, won a huge mandate for his program of economic liberalization and clamping down on Islamic fundamentalism. Official turnout was more than 94% as 2.9 million voters went to the polls in the first election contested by opposition parties since Tunisia's independence from France in 1956, authorities announced Monday.

Just outside the medina, or old city, of the Tunisian capital, sits a large, modern, stark-white building that houses the ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally. Known by its French acronym as the RCD, the political party of President Zine Abidine ben Ali dominates the country's politics just as the party headquarters dominates its surroundings.

President Zine Abidine ben Ali on Wednesday fired his premier, who had expressed growing opposition to Ben Ali's reform moves. The president named Justice Minister Hamed Karoui to replace Hedi Baccouche, the government announced. "A new post will be found for Baccouche," said a statement from the president's office without elaboration. Baccouche, a personal friend of the president, was named to lead the government immediately after the palace coup Nov.

The recent elections in Tunisia, billed as the first real test of democracy since the ouster of the autocratic Habib Bourguiba 17 months ago, were both a boon and an embarrassment for President Zine Abidine ben Ali, according to Tunisian political analysts and diplomats. The new 53-year-old leader was sworn in Sunday. Ben Ali, who has been nudging Tunisia toward greater democracy since forcing Bourguiba into retirement, won an overwhelming mandate to govern in his own right, capturing 99.7% of the 2.1 million votes cast in the April 2 presidential election.