Tunisian Lawmakers Approve New Government Line-Up

Tunisia's lawmakers approved on Wednesday a new government formed to pull the country out of a severe crisis, the same day as an impoverished vendor died after setting himself alight in act of desperation.

Premier-designate Ali Larayedh's broadly based coalition of his own Islamist party Ennahda, two secular parties and independents received 139 votes, or 30 more than needed, in a parliamentary session broadcast on television.

Only 45 MPs voted against, 13 abstained and 20 were absent from the session, which ended with the singing of the national anthem and shouts of "loyal to the blood of the martyrs" of the January 2011 revolution that ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.