First Independent Mena Newspaper
South Africa and its neighbors were at the center of a tussle for influence this week when US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in turn arrived for a diplomatic visit, offering a rare moment of leverage for regional governments intent at using the opportunity to gain concessions and increase trade […]
The United States and Türkiye have disrupted ISIS’s ability to finance its operations by designating four individuals and two entities of an ISIS financial facilitation network. The US Department of the Treasury said its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated critical nodes of a key financial facilitation network of the so-called Islamic State of […]
The United States has dropped Burkina Faso from its trade preference program citing deep concerns over “unconstitutional change” in government in the West African country, according to a statement by the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR). The USTR’s office said Burkina Faso had failed to meet the requirements of the African Growth and […]
The United States has pledged to disburse additional $44 million to Niger to help the West African country address food insecurity. The announcement was made by Victoria Jane Nuland, the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, following a meeting with President Mohamed Bazoum in a capital Niamey on Wednesday. “I had a rewarding conversation […]
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund bought shares in Alphabet, Zoom Video and Microsoft as part of a wider pick of US stocks, bringing the sovereign wealth fund’s second-quarter investments to about $40.8 billion, Arab Finance reports. A filing from US Securities and Exchange Commission indicated that PIF acquired 213,000 class A shares in Alphabet; 4.7 […]
Ethiopia’s government should resume essential services in the conflict-torn Tigray region in the north of the country, the United States and European Union envoys for the Horn of Africa have said, after a rare visit to the war-torn region facing dire conditions. Tigray, a region in the north of the country, has been struggling to […]
US has exported more gas to Spain than Algeria so far this year as new players seek a foothold in the Spanish gas market. Spanish authorities have often complained at the insufficient gas flow through the Medgaz pipeline which couldn’t match the amount the Spanish market was receiving through the Maghreb-Europe pipeline that used to […]
The US embassy launched Tuesday a financial support scheme worth $35 million in a favor of Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) that have difficult access to loans to grow their activities, Business News reports. The US aid agency, USAID, is partnering with the Arab Tunisian Bank (ATB) and US International Development Finance Corporation on […]
The United States and Egypt stressed the importance of holding elections in Libya on the scheduled date, i.e. on December 24. This was stressed in a joint statement released on Tuesday evening by the State Department following the US-Egyptian strategic dialogue held on November 8 – 9, under the chairmanship of Secretary of State Antony […]
US envoy to Libya Richard Norland thanked Morocco for facilitating talks between Libyans with a view to preparing for Dec. elections. Rabat hosted last week two-day talks between representatives of the House of Representatives and the High State Council with the participation of UNSMIL as a technical facilitator. “We thank Morocco for its willingness to […]