First Independent Mena Newspaper
Libya’s deputy industry minister, Hassan al-Droui, was killed by unknown gunmen as he drove home from a shopping trip during a visit to his hometown of Sirte, east of the capital Tripoli. The government blamed the attack, which occurred during on late Saturday (11 January), on hard-line Islamist militants. It is the first assassination of […]
Tunisia’s constitutional assembly voted earlier this week to enshrine gender equality in its draft constitution, upholding the country’s status as having one of the Arab world’s most progressive laws on women’s right. The text enshrining the equality between men and women was approved by a large majority of 159 lawmakers out of the 169 who […]
Experts forecast that the Egyptian Stock Exchange will rise by 40 percent in the new year, which should, along with the major political events like the constitutional referendum and parliamentary and presidential elections, promote expectations of stability and security. The director of investment at Egyptians Abroad Investment and Development Co. said that the country’s stock […]
While we enter a new year, the emerging consensus among observers of the Middle East and Northern Africa is that the Arab Spring has turned into a frosty Arab Winter. Nothing speaks to this perception as strongly as the ongoing civil war in Syria, where the embattled Assad-regime, propped up by Hizbollah and Iran, is […]
As changes continue to redesign the landscape in the Middle East-North Africa region and in Africa, Morocco’s longstanding, friendly relationships with these two regions open new avenues for U.S.-Morocco cooperation, all the more so as the two countries have a shared vision on a set of regional issues, ranging from economic development to stability, from […]
The UGTT (Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail) union federation – which represents hundreds of thousands of Tunisian workers – mediating Tunisia’s political crisis announced Tuesday that it would “suspend the national dialogue” on choosing a new prime minister after political leaders again failed to agree on a candidate. The political tensions and economic instability that […]
It was an excruciating experience for observers and journalists alike. Following the coup of 3 July 2013 and the quiet consolidation of power by army chief al-Sissi, the United States had to weigh its future policy vis-à-vis Egypt carefully. But nobody quite expected the diplomatic tussle that followed – an administration unwilling to recognise a […]
Tunisia’s southerners are complaining of being neglected by the government after the Arab Spring due to the state of the once vibrant tourism sector in the region. They blamed the lack of tourists in the area on the ever frequent cancelations of international and local flights. The government is accused of only interested in marketing […]
According to a report published by the Strategic Defense Intelligence (SDI) market research group, Algeria continues to be leading other countries in the continent’s defense expenditures. Algeria has been known to be a big spender in the defense market and the trend is expected to continue as Terrorism gains attention in the North African region. […]
In many ways, it appears as if Algeria is weathering the Arab Spring fairly well. Despite its sheer size, it has dodged the cycle of demonstrations and upheaval, even though the Arab Spring started right in the next door Tunisia. Its long-term president Abdelaziz Bouteflika has maintained a façade of democracy, though his tenure has […]