First Independent Mena Newspaper
The United States has urged Israel not to freeze Palestinian tax revenues because it will lead to a “tit-for-tat” atmosphere. President Mahmoud Abbas is seeking to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) after the Arab backed resolution for a 2017 Israeli withdrawal deadline failed to win enough votes at the U.N Security Council. The decision […]
President Beji Caid Essebsi has tasked Habib Essid to form a government that would administer the affairs of the state for the next five years. He should form a government within a month and seek the parliament’s approval. The leftist Popular Front is not pleased with the nomination. 65 year old Essid is an agricultural […]
The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has indefinitely suspended the Libyan political dialogue that was supposed to begin on 5 January. This is the third time the dialogue has been postponed. Fighting between the different warring factions in the North African country still continues. According to the spokesperson of the outgoing General National Congress, […]
Russia has sent 28 invitations to Syrian opposition sides within and outside the country for talks in Moscow as part of efforts to end the war. The talks are expected to be held this month but reports are already claiming that opposition figures that are supporting the war against Assad’s regime could snub the talks. […]
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian stressed the need to find a political solution to the Libyan crisis rather than another military operation in the North African country plunged in chaos since the collapse of the Kaddafi regime. The French official, who was visiting Madama, Northern Niger, where a French military base is being built […]
President Mahmoud Abbas signed on Wednesday Palestine’s official application to become party to the Rome Statute of the Hague-based International Criminal Court and other principles governing the functioning of the court. He also signed some twenty other international conventions, relating in particular to “war crimes,” “crimes against humanity” and cluster weapons. The move to […]
The Libyan parliament in Tobruk has come under attack after a suicide bomber in a car detonated his bomb at the entrance of the al-Salam Hotel where the parliamentarians are based and have their sessions. There are no casualties. This is the first time the parliament is targeted in a bomb attack since it left […]
Egyptian efforts to create a 10 kilometer long buffer zone along its border with a kilometer radius are still being pursued. The killing of 30 Egyptian soldiers by a suicide bomber in the Sinai region in October has forced the government to construct a buffer zone and declare a three-month emergency in certain areas of […]
An amended version of the Palestinian draft resolution calling for a withdrawal deadline of the Israeli forces in the occupied territories is expected to be submitted to the United Nations Security council before the end of the year. Israel and the U.S have already stated that they are against the draft. According to reports, the […]
As Oil prices continue falling, hitting their lowest level in five years, Algeria launched an SOS calling the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to lower production and restore the oil market balance. “OPEC needs to intervene to lower production and thus remedy the unbalances of the market,” Algerian energy Minister Youcef Yousfi was quoted […]