Egypt's presidency said Tuesday it will submit a proposed law regulating civil society groups to the senate, insisting it reflects the values of the country's democratic uprising despite accusations it is restrictive. The bill regulating foreign and local non-governmental groups would be submitted on Wednesday to the senate, which also acts as an interim parliament, Wael Zoghby, who helped to draw up the draft legislation, told AFP.

Clashes broke out on Tuesday between Tunisian street vendors and police who fired tear gas to disperse them in the northern town of Bizerte, interior ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui said. Furious at the regional governor's decision to ban their mobile stalls in the town centre, the street vendors attacked the police, hurling rocks and petrol bombs, and the police fired tear gas in response, Aroui told AFP. He said the ministry was investigating reports that a 73-year-old man had died from suffocation after inhaling the gas.

A controversial Tunisian pro-Islamist militia said on Sunday police had released two of its officials arrested at a prohibited meeting. On Saturday, police detained Imed Deghij and Mohamed Amine Agrebi, officials from the League for the Protection of the Revolution, and a handful of their supporters for several hours. The militia, which the opposition says has ties to the ruling Islamist Ennahda party, denounced the arrests and called for demonstrations in Tunis on June 1.

CAIRO - Egypt's president signed a new tax law Tuesday that cuts the amount paid by poorer Egyptians in the latest move aimed at reforming the country's economy. The changes, which are more favourable than the previous tax law for the country's most vulnerable, could boost Islamists in parliamentary elections slated for later this year. The interim parliament, led by Islamist allies of President Mohammed Morsi, approved the measure last week.