Author: BGMN

Syria is ‘Hell on Earth’ as Sebastian Junger documents in new film

BGMN

Pop, pop, pop: the sound of constant gunfire fills the air, and it’s nearly impossible to tell who is being targeted. Everyone in Daraa, Syria, who is protesting on the streets is being eyed through Syrian Army scopes. People are chanting with flags and signs, protesting the regime’s taking and torturing teenagers who spray-painted slogans against President Bashar al-Assad on a wall. Bullets hit protesters who hit the pavement. One after another. People are running, yelling to get a car as they carry a bloody body through the streets. The…

Summer travel season expected to be record breaking – IATA

BGMN

The International Air Transport (IATA) said on Thursday it expects a record breaking summer travel season for the northern hemisphere after global carriers reported a 12-year high in traffic growth for the first half of 2017. Global demand for air travel rose 7.8 percent in June as all regions reported growth, thanks to brighter economies and lower air fares, IATA said. In the first six months, demand was up 7.9 percent, while load factors – a measure of how full planes are – reached a first-half record of 80.7 percent. Europe’s airlines…

UK hails Tunisia’s ‘hard work’ on security after terror attacks

BGMN

Britain on Thursday applauded Tunisia’s “patient hard work” to boost security following the 2015 jihadist attacks that killed dozens of tourists, including 30 Britons at a beach resort. “We know that these days there can never be a situation when there is no risk at all but we are being very pleased to advise our citizens that returning to Tunis, returning to the resort areas, is something that we would like them to do,” said Britain’s junior foreign minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Alistair Burt, on a…

Two Italian fishing boats attacked between Libya, Tunisia

BGMN

Two Italian fishing boats from the Sicilian port town of Mazara del Vallo – the ”Aliseo” and ”Anna Madre” – were reportedly attacked by a boat off Zarzis, at the border between Libya and Tunisia, in international waters. An Italian Navy helicopter and a Tunisian military vessel reportedly intervened, persuading the vessel to back off, according to the president of the Sicilian fishing district, Giovanni Tumbiolo. The vessel reportedly belongs to Tunisian Customs authorities. The incident occurred on Wednesday night and is allegedly connected to the so-called local ‘fishing war’…

Migrant rescue ship blocked in Lampedusa amid NGO crackdown

BGMN

A ship chartered by the German NGO, Jugend Rettet, was blocked overnight off the southern island of Lampedusa by the coastguard as part of a ‘routine check’. The organisation was among those which refused to sign a ‘code of conduct’ on migrant search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean imposed by the Italian government. The ship, Iuventa, was escorted by the coastguard to the port of Lampedusa, an island that lies between Sicily and Tunisia. Two Syrians, who had been transferred to the ship by one of the Italian military…

Tunisian dinar falls to lowest rate in years

BGMN

The Tunisian dinar fell to its lowest rate in years trading at 2.83 against the euro and 2.412 against the US dollar. Authorities explained the decline saying that Tunisia did not receive the last instalment from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan which would have contributed to helping the country’s foreign currency reserves recover. The authorities added that revenues from tourism have not been taking into account because the season had not ended yet. Economists predict the Tunisian dinar will continue to fall against foreign currencies in light of the…

Thomas Cook to re-offer trips to Tunisia

BGMN

UK travel agent Thomas Cook has announced that it could start offering package holidays to Tunisia as soon as spring 2018. Thomas Cook has not offered packages to the country after the 2015 terror attack that left 38 people, including 30 British holiday makers, dead. Reported in UK news outlet The Independent, the news came after the UK Foreign Office removed Tunisia from its ‘no-go’ list, meaning that companies can start offering trips again. Peter Fankhauser, chief executive of Thomas Cook, said: “The Foreign Office came to the conclusion that it…

Citizen Diplomacy’s Evolution onto the Web

BGMN

Youth in Des Moines, Iowa have more in common with students in Tunisia than they thought. In particular, a passion for social justice. While participating in Youth for Understanding’s (YFU) Virtual Exchange Initiative, a program that digitally connects students in different countries for moderated, in-depth discussion, a group of students in Iowa brought up the Black Lives Matter movement. “They were somewhat shocked to find out that their peers in Tunisia, though in a slightly different capacity, could relate having just gone through a revolution,” Erin Helland, director of Virtual…

EU Praises Tunisia on Human Rights: New Law Fights Gender-Based Crimes

BGMN

The European Union has lauded a new Tunisian law that aims to fight against gender-based violence in the country. Brussels says that this ambitious law is a decisive step towards absolute respect for human rights and equal opportunities. The European External Action Service (EEAS) commented that “the Assembly of Representatives of the Tunisian people took a big step forward in the process of democratic transition through the unanimous adoption of an ambitious law against gender-based violence”. The new piece of legislation also stresses the country’s global vision that protects women…

Big Opportunities and Challenges for Big Law in Africa

BGMN

At the end of June, DLA Piper acquired firms in Senegal and Tunisia, boosting its presence in Africa to 19 countries. It’s a sign, according to Bloomberg Law, that Big Law is starting to see the potential for legal work in the region. Several African countries could use the help. Statistics from the Law Society of South Africa paint a bleak picture, with a per capita population of lawyers of 1 to about 2240 people. The situation is even more dire in Zambia, where a University of Pennsylvania law school study…