First Independent Mena Newspaper
A new fisheries agreement between the European Union and Morocco has finally been approved on Tuesday by the European Parliament after two years of long and arduous negotiations. The new four year fisheries agreement, approved at a plenary session by 310 votes to 204, with 49 abstentions, will allow fishing vessels from 11 EU countries, […]
Africa must first “ensure its own security” so it can realize its “destiny”, asserted French President François Hollande when addressing some 40 African leaders as a key Franco-African security summit opened Friday in Paris. French President Hollande also pledged to help with the creation of a special African rapid-reaction force that would train as many […]
“France must double its trade with Africa,” Hollande called on French business leaders during a major conference of French and African business leaders in Paris on Wednesday (4 December). If France can manage to achieve this, some 200,000 jobs will be created in France over the next five years. Hollande’s comments came ahead of a […]
Algeria’s 76-year-old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been nominated by his ruling National Liberation Party (FLN) to run for a fourth term in April 2014. The ailing leader, who was hospitalized in France last April after suffering what official reports described as a stroke, has been in power since 1999. He presided over a cabinet meeting […]
France has launched the commemorations for next year’s 100-year anniversary of the start of World War I. In his solemn speech, French President François Hollande said that he wanted the program of commemorative events to unfold in a spirit of national unity, as well as friendship between all the countries involved in the conflict that […]
While recently attending a conference in Benin, the crisis in Mali still loomed large. The conflict in Mali had threatened to unravel the entire security situation in the Sahel and Western African nations spent much of the last year bickering whether a military intervention to save Bamako from approaching Islamist militias was feasible. In the […]
King Mohammed VI of Morocco participated Thursday in the inauguration ceremony of the new president of Mali Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, along a number of other heads of state, including France’s François Hollande. The presence of the Moroccan King at this ceremony did not go unnoticed because it was the first time that the king attended […]
President Bouteflika has carried a major political decision since returning from his treatment in France by reshuffling his cabinet. Principal ministerial posts such as interior, defense and foreign affairs ministries have been affected. Critics claim that the reshuffling is aimed at strengthening the 76 year old president’s grip to power while enthusiasts believe that it […]
Claims that government forces have used chemical weapons have attracted the United Nations Security Council’s attention. The council wants more information on the reports but Russia has refuted such allegations. More than 1,300 people have been killed by the attack. Three permanent members of the Security Council namely France, Britain and the United States together […]
The Egyptian interim leader Adly Mansour, has appointed Hazem El Beblawi as Egypt’s new Prime minister, after the democratically elected president Mohammed Morsi was ousted from office by the country’s army leaders. Presidential spokesman Ahmed El Moslamany announced in a statement that Mohamed El-Baradei is also appointed as Vice President responsible for foreign affairs in […]