Certain important events this week brought joy to me personally, because they confirmed for me that I was right in taking the decision, three decades ago, to join in the project to change the evils of the unjust trans-Atlantic world order, and replace it with a new and just world order established on the foundations of cooperation and inclusion of all nations in development, and achieving lasting peace on the basis of connecting nations and continents through railway networks, bridges, and tunnels, and facilitating the movement of people, goods, and…
Day: May 26, 2017
Swiss return funds from Ben Ali relative to Tunisia
Switzerland returned around 3.5 million euros ($3.91 million) held by a close relative of former Tunisian president Ben Ali to Tunisian authorities as part of the country’s stolen assets recovery process, Swiss authorities said on Friday. The Swiss government froze assets held in Switzerland by the deposed Tunisian president and his entourage in early 2011, the foreign ministry said, part of an effort to prevent the flight of capital suspected of having been illicitly acquired. Criminal investigations have since been opened in both countries. “Acting on a request for mutual…
Macron is bad news for Britain’s borders
The Treaty of Le Touquet gives the French president major leverage in Brexit talks. French President Emmanuel Macron’s victory in France was greeted across Europe with an audible sigh of relief, and now many across the Continent are watching eagerly to see if he can carry out the reforms he promised on the campaign trail. In the U.K., however, the outlook is at best mixed. On the one hand, there’s the sense of a bullet dodged with the defeat of Macron’s far-right opponent Marine Le Pen. On the other, there’s the fact that…
Coral smuggling degrades environment, economy
Due to their brilliant composition, design, and strategic locations, coral reefs serve superbly as natural shock absorbers from the relentless force of the sea. By absorbing energy from gentle or powerful waves, coral reefs protect beaches from erosion, preventing water from easily cutting into mounds of sand that lay far beneath the bare feet of beach-goers above them. Without this bulwark of coral, precious beach would degrade and collapse. Little made by man can replace this natural wonder. Although coral reefs comprise less than .01 percent of ocean life and…
Tunisia’s Expensya raises $1.1m to grow smart business expense solutions
Tunisian smart business management solutions startup Expensya has raised EUR1 million (US$1.1 million) from private investors to allow it to step up its research and development activities, expand its sales teams and boost its international expansion. Expensya, which processes tens of thousands of business travel and expense reports for clients worldwide and also has offices in Paris and Berlin, markets its smart business expense solution in 22 countries. “This increase in capital will enable us to continue to invest in digital transformation, archiving and processing technologies to offer customers smart…