Moscow scraps visa requirements for 18 nationals including 9 Arab countries

Citizens of 18 countries including Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria have been exempted from visa requirements to visit far-eastern part of Russia, reports say. The Russian Premier Dmitry Medvedev announced Russian authorities’ decision on Monday. “I recently approved the list countries whose nationals can benefit from the preferential treatments,” Medvedev said. The decision is taken in […]

Somali gov’t, al-Shabab deny peace talks as president calls on militants to surrender

Both the Somali government and the al-Shabab militant group have denied having held peace talks, which comes after President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had called on “brainwashed” young al-Shabab fighters to surrender to the government amid ongoing military offensives against the group. The denial came from a senior government official Saturday after Abdulfatah Kasim Mohamud, a […]

Libya’s oil market still plagued by insecurity

The Libyan oil law being drafted by a committee is expected to be ready before September “if all goes well” according to oil minister Abdelbari al-Arusi. The law has to come into force before a licensing round can be launched, but most analysts remain pessimistic about the law being passed. Minister Arusi said that the […]