First Independent Mena Newspaper
The Barcelona-based Union for the Mediterranean officially launched last week an employability-skills training program labelled “Skills for Success: Employability Skills for Women” aimed to provide economically disadvantaged girls and young women who have completed secondary school (aged 15-20) with specific knowledge, skills and tools to enter the job market. The program includes training in English […]
The infamous Dutch right-wing leader of anti-Islam PVV party, Geert Wilders, faced an unprecedented storm of protest on Thursday (March 20) after he told supporters he would make sure there were “fewer Moroccans” in the Netherlands. The day following Wilders’ pledge to his chanting supporters that he would arrange for there to be fewer Moroccans […]
About 500 people stormed Spain’s North African enclave of Melilla on Tuesday (18 March), which is the largest number to force their way across the border in almost a decade as increasing naval patrols discourage entry into the territory by sea. Spain has two enclaves in Morocco – Melilla and Ceuta – and migrants mainly […]
Some of the European countries that supported the rebellion in Libya have publicly made a statement regarding the chaotic situation in the North African country on the sidelines of the conference in Rome to end the crisis. The weak central government has been urged to engage in talks with the heavily armed militia groups. The […]
As a result of Uganda’s latest discriminatory law against homosexuals, a number of EU countries have expressed their intention to cancel development aid for the country. Despite warnings of the international community, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, gave its ‘yes’ to an anti-gay bill that introduces an “aggravated homosexuality” offence, which is punishable by life imprisonment. […]
More than 200 sub-Saharan migrants on Friday stormed the Spanish enclave Melilla, at a crossing point on the Spain-Morocco border. They scaled the triple 20-foot fence surrounding Spain’s North African enclave in another mass crossing of the heavily protected border, the Spanish government said. The migrants, many of whom were reportedly from Cameroon, Guinea and […]
First Paris and then Brussels announced last Friday (14 February) that they would boost their peace-keeping forces in the strife-torn Central African Republic. Following a meeting of the national Defence Council at the Elysée Palace, France announced it would deploy 400 more soldiers and gendarmes, bringing its total forces in its former colony to 2,000. […]
Spain’s minister of state for security, Francisco Martinez Vázquez, recently completed his visit to Mauritania and Senegal that started on 4 February. The aim of his tour of the region was to bolster Sahel ties and discuss ways to tackle imminent threats to the region such as clandestine immigration, crime, drug trafficking, and cross-border terrorism. […]
France on Monday made an announcement refusing Niger’s appeal, last week, for western military action against Islamist fighters who have established bases in Southern Libya since the 2011 overthrow of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Niger’s call for help is a desperate one as Islamist attacks and kidnappings on its mineral-rich soil have posed a threat to […]
A resolution authorising European Union troops to use force in the Central African Republic (CAR), which has been torn apart by inter-religious violence over the past few months, was approved in a crucial UN Security Council earlier this week. This follows the EU’s own approval of a military operation, in which up to 600 soldiers […]