First Independent Mena Newspaper
The creation of a new post of EU Special Representative for the Southern Mediterranean Region in July 2011 symbolizes the importance the region has gained in European eyes. Focusing specifically on the Maghreb, there are a number of reasons why it is vital for the Union to engage closely with this region located on its […]
Ismail Serageldin, the director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, is being sued for squandering public funds after library staff accused him of abuse of power claiming he unfairly appointed advisors and gave them huge salaries. He was also accused of embezzling donations destined to the library and illegally transferring them to a bank account controlled by […]
The newest version of Microsoft Operating system Windows 8, which has generated a lot of buzz in the IT industry, offers to the Berber-speaking populations across North Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya) the possibility of using their personnel computers in their native spoken language. A preview of Windows 8, to be officially launched in […]
Despite the unrest rocking several Arab countries, many foreign tourists are still heading to North Africa not only for holidays but also for plastic surgery which has become a big business namely in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. The pyramids of ancient Egypt, the antiquities & beaches of Tunisia and the mystical city Marrakesh (Morocco) are […]
Mauritania is increasingly worried about the mounting terrorist threat in the Sahel that has become a safe heaven for organized crime and terrorism networks. Mauritania’s worries were recently expounded before the 67th session of the UN General Assembly by Mauritanian Foreign Minister Hamadi Ould Hamadi who warned that the Sahel region has become “a safe […]
When, in 1949, Mao Zedong forced Chiang Kai-Shek’s army to retreat from mainland China, thus consolidating the Communist Party’s grip over the People’s Republic, the reverberations could be felt across the world. In the United States, Republicans put forward a poignant, yet rhetoric question: Who Lost China? In the eyes of the Republicans, the answer […]
Algeria is expected to invest US$71 billion in the energy sector over the five coming years, becoming thus the third largest investor in the sector in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. According to a report released earlier this week by the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), with its USD 71 billion worth […]
Several international experts, intellectuals and human rights activists are wondering whether the idea of setting up a task force to fight the upsurge of illegal immigration will ever work?. The proposed task force, to include delegates or agents from North Africa (Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania & Tunisia) and their European partners (France, Italy, Malta, Portugal […]
Gas production in the Mauritanian Banda field may start in late 2014 or early 2015, it was announced in Nouakchott earlier this week. The construction of a gas pipeline for the Banda gas field, whose reserves are estimated at 500 billion cubic feet, may be entrusted to U.K.-based explorer Tullow Oil Plc (TLW). Construction works […]
On Sunday October 7th, The Philippine government has announced a preliminary peace agreement with the country’s largest Muslim group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). This deal aims at ending a 40-year conflict that has killed an estimated 120,000 people. But it could also open the way to boost domestic and foreign investments in the […]