Month: August 2017

UN envoy announces high-level meeting on Libya

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The gathering  will take place on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly meeting Ghassan Salame, the United Nations Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), has announced a high level meeting chaired by UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres will take place next month following talks that Mr Salame is holding in the country this week Mr Salame who took up his position last month, made the announcement from Tripoli where he held a tele-briefing with the Security Council from the UN headquarters there, highlighting his  on-the-ground approach to…

Fighting terrorism Macron’s top priority

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French President Emmanuel Macron has made the fight against “Islamic terrorism” in Syria and Iraq the top priority in his foreign policy agenda. Speaking on Tuesday to French diplomats gathered at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Macron called the Islamic State group “our enemy.” “Restoring peace and stability – Iraq then Syria – is vital priority for France,” he said. He proposed creating a new contact group including the other permanent members of the UN Security Council to help handle negotiations with Syria. The group will first meet at the…

The Other Humanitarians in the Mediterranean: Tunisia’s Fishermen

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Tunisian fishermen living near the Libyan border have been rescuing migrants and recovering the dead for years. With the recent curbs on NGO boats, and an emboldened Libyan coast guard, they may bear the burden of Mediterranean rescues once again. ZARZIS, TUNISIA – There are no signs to mark what lies beneath the rocky mounds of dirt and sparse browning weeds in this vacant government lot down a rugged, unpaved road near Tunisia’s coast. But Chamseddine Marzoug, a former fisherman, cannot forget. “In the corner over there, there is a man without a head,” said Marzoug,…

Tourism: amusement park opens in Tunisia

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The first amusement park opened in Sfax on Monday and is set to become a major visitor and tourist attraction for the entire region. Built across an area of 18,000 sqm at a cost of 22 million Tunisian dinars, Sfax Land is equipped with all the latest rides and attractions as well as a large restaurant area. “We chose Sfax to fill the gap in terms of entertainment with respect to Tunis, Sousse and Djerba,” said Naim Hobeika, director general of developer Zinadi Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Lebanese giant…

Libya seizes foreign tanker, trawler

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Libya seized a foreign oil tanker and trawler Wednesday off the country’s western coast and detained their crews for questioning in Tripoli, the navy and coast guard said. “The Rex, a Tanzanian-flagged tanker registered in Zanzibar, was intercepted” loaded with a suspected illegal cargo of Libyan diesel, navy spokesman General Ayoub Kacem told AFP. A coastguard official in Tripoli, Colonel Abu Ajila Abdelbarri, said the vessel had been under surveillance for several days. He said a Maltese trawler was also seized for fishing in Libyan waters without authorisation.  The two…

Tunisia: UTICA launches first Social Innovation Competition

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The Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA) has announced the launch of the first social innovation competition dedicated to companies that have been in business for more than 2 years and to start-ups created around a social innovation. The UTICA Prize for Social Innovation aims to support and valorize innovative experiments, initiatives, or actions that are capable of bringing real added value, both to professional practice and to the results obtained from users.  These innovations relate to the product or service as well as the way in which…

Forgotten in Tunisia

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Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is currently providing medical and mental health care to migrants and refugees in Tunisia—in Sfax and Zarzis. Many of these patients arrive after a perilous journey through Libya, where migrants are often kidnapped, tortured, and held for ransom. In Sfax, MSF mainly sees patients from sub-Saharan Africa, among them undocumented migrants, victims of human trafficking, and other vulnerable people. For them, Tunisia is a transitional point between their conflict-torn homes and Europe, where they hope to find work and a better life. As time passes, however,…

Tunisia detains Egyptian fishermen for illegal fishing in territorial waters

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The Tunisian Marine Forces have detained a number of Egyptian fishermen off the coast of Sfax for illegal fishing in Tunisia’s territorial waters, the Tunisian Ministry of National Defence said in a statement on Monday. Ibrahim Said, the boat’s mechanic, who is in detention along with the rest of the crew, told Ahram Online that 16 Egyptian fishermen from Rashid and Kafr El-Sheikh were on board. The boat’s captain, Youssef Mohamed Hassan El-Shazly, set sail 10 days ago from Egypt’s Mediterranean city of Rashid, according to Said, who added that…

Libyan navy detains 20 Filipinos for alleged smuggling

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At least 20 Filipino crew members of an oil tanker have been arrested by the Libyan navy for suspected fuel smuggling, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday. The DFA said in a statement it is closely monitoring the case of the detained crewmen after their tanker was intercepted Sunday. “The DFA instructed our embassy to closely monitor the situation and extend all necessary assistance to our (countrymen),” it said in a statement, according to GMA News. The Philippine embassy in Libya has yet to report back, it…

Greenpeace Africa Welcomes Move to Ban Plastic Bags in Kenya

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Greenpeace Africa has lauded Kenya’s move to ban plastic bags starting end of this month, according to a statement issued by Hellen Dena, Communication Officer of the environmental group. It said, Greenpeace Africa’s Executive Director, Njeri Kabeberi has reacted gleefully to the news that the ban will take effect on 28th August and that the government has ruled out extension of the order, “Greenpeace Africa welcomes the decision by the Kenyan government to implement the plastic bags ban. This is a beacon of hope in fostering an environmentally conscious society…