Tunisia said Monday that naval patrols had intercepted 19 boats carrying a total of 246 people seeking to cross from the North African nation to Europe overnight Saturday to Sunday alone.

Tunisia’s Prime Minister-designate, Hichem Mechichi, has unveiled a new government made up of technocrats rather than members of political parties.

Hichem Mechichi, who until now has served as Tunisia's interior minister, has been appointed to form the next government, the president's office said Saturday. The 46-year-old lawyer succeeds Elyes Fakhfakh, who resigned earlier this month -- but Mechichi was not one of the names proposed by the ruling political parties to President Kais Saied.

A Tunisian man has pieced together bits of a local secret linked to ancient emperors: how to make a prized purple dye using the guts of a sea snail. "At the beginning, I didn't know where to start," said Mohamed Ghassen Nouira, who heads a consulting firm.

It is a herculean task, but authorities in Tunisia hope to identify the bodies of thousands of deceased migrants who have disappeared on the perilous journey to Europe by sea.

Tunisia has deployed army units throughout the country to implement a quarantine as part of measures to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus, the presidency said Monday in a statement.