Four more die in Tunisia riots

At least four people have been killed in Tunisia overnight as police clashed with rioting youths angry over unemployment.

The latest deaths near the capital, Tunis, and Bizerte to the north, come as protesters defied a government-ordered curfew aimed at calming more than three weeks of violence nationwide.

The government death toll is at 23, while the opposition says it is more than twice that. Police have repeatedly opened fire on protesters.

The demonstrators are defying autocratic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who has been in power for 23 years.

The riots have shattered Tunisia's image as an island of calm in volatile North Africa.