First Independent Mena Newspaper
After last year’s attack on the ‘’In Amenas’’ gas plant by Islamist militants, which left 39 foreigners and one Algerian dead during a four-day siege, it has been reported that the gas plant will be fully functional within weeks. The plant used to produce about 11,5% of Algeria’s natural gas output before the attack. The […]
About 500 entrepreneurs from the Gulf States, the Maghreb, Europe, and Mauritania, as well as officers of a number of different international organizations, attended the first Mauritania Investment Forum that took place in the Nouadhibou Free Zone on January 26-27. The event that was opened by Mauritania’s President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, was later crowned […]
In Saudi Arabia, near the coast of the Red Sea, the first evidence of dinosaurs was uncovered by an international team of scientists. Findings in the region have proven scarce or difficult to itemize. Dr. Benjamin Kear, a paleontologist at Uppsala University in Sweden, and the study’s lead author, attested to the fact that it’s […]
Egypt’s interim government has announced that the presidential vote will be held earlier, before parliamentary poll, than as originally foretold by the militia-backed authorities. This decision is allegedly designed to encourage further speculations over whether army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will stand for presidency. The general is being supported by many groups after he […]
Mehdi Jomaa, Tunisia’s officially designated new prime minister, announced his failure in forming a new cabinet meant to steer the country to fresh polls. This took place in a press conference that was held shortly after the deadline to submit his line-up to President Moncef Marzouki and on the day of a vote set to […]
Almost two years after the suicide in March 2012 of a Moroccan teenager who had been forced to marry her rapist, Moroccan MPs unanimously passed earlier this week an amendment to the penal code that is hailed by NGOs, civil society activists and women’s rights advocates as a major breakthrough. The amendment that was long […]
Since the army toppled Islamist ex-President Mohamed Morsi in July last year, the country has been witnessing violence “on the unprecedented scale”, according to the Amnesty International. The advocacy accused the Egyptian police of regular abuse of competencies and noted that human rights and civil liberties are being antagonized. According to the Amnesty’s report that […]
A major topic of debate earlier this month, article 6, has once again resurfaced in Tunisia National Constituent Assembly. The article, which addresses the role of religion in Tunisia, is prone to be changed by the Islamist party Ennahda. 120 members of parliament have already signed a petition in favor of an amendment weeks after […]
The Moroccan government took the first steps towards the adoption of a draft law on the establishment of Islamic banking in the country. This comes as a result of the cabinet’s plan to attract certain segments of foreign direct investment. In the opinion of the budget committee represented by minister-delegate Driss Azami, Morocco can significantly […]
As elections draw close this year, Egypt aims at attracting foreign currency into the country after investments almost dried up following the revolution which overthrew Hosni Mubarak in 2011. This cause, aimed at easing social discontent and creating jobs, is supported by state-linked investors and Dubai retailer Majid Al Futtaim. The company is the holder […]