Year: 2017

UN envoy to Libya wants to model Libya’s crisis solution on the Tunisian one

BGMN

“I want to repeat the Tunisian solution of the crisis in the Libyan dilemma.” Said the UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame, who was part of the solution in Tunisia three years ago. Salame told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Friday that he aims to have Libyan parties sign consent to the upcoming results of the elections as happened with the Tunisian parties in 2014. “I am contacting all Libyan parties even those loyal to Gaddafi’s regime because the solution in Libya is tied to the constitution, national reconciliation and elections.” He added.…

Palestine says no talks with US unless Trump reverses move

BGMN

Any Palestinian sitting with Americans is recognition of Trump’s decision, says chief negotiator Saeb Erekat A high-ranking Palestine Liberation Organization official (PLO) has announced Friday that Palestine would not engage with talks involving the U.S.until President Donald Trump reverses his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat posted on social media that any meeting with the U.S. would mean a recognition of its move. “No talk with the American side about the peace process in the absence of a reversal of the resolution and any…

Tunisian parliament approves 2018 budget including fiscal reforms

BGMN

– Tunisia’s parliament on Saturday approved a 36 billion dinar ($14.55 billion) budget for next year which included a package of fiscal measures to cut the budget deficit. It forecasts the budget deficit to fall to 4.9 percent of gross domestic product in 2018, from about 6 percent expected in 2017. Tunisia aims to raise GDP growth to about 3 percent next year from 2.3 percent this year. Tunisia is under pressure from the International Monetary Fund to speed up policy changes and help its economy recover from militant attacks…

UN rejects US recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital

BGMN

Eight of the 15 members of the UN Security Council had called for an urgent meeting on Friday The United States found itself isolated at a special United Nations Security Council meeting in its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a move that set off alarms about the risk of escalating conflict in the Middle East. Eight of the 15 members of the UN Security Council, the organization the looks out for peace and security around the world, had called for an urgent meeting on Friday to analyze…

DIGITAL AWARD FOR TRANSPARENCY: HONOURING DIGITAL INITIATIVES TO FIGHT CORRUPTION

BGMN

The French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Transparency International, the French Operator in Media Cooperation and Liberté Living-Lab today proudly announced the winners of the Digital Award for Transparency. The Digital Award for Transparency awards individuals and civil society organisations who have developed digital technology tools used to fight corruption. The award aims at strengthening and promoting existing initiatives that promote good governance through three categories: Open Data, Citizen Engagement and Anti-corruption Tools. Nominations for the award have been judged by a committee of nine experts from the technology sector and the anti-corruption movement who have chosen three winning projects from Tunisia, Burkina Faso and Madagascar; and three runner-up projects from Tunisia and Sénégal (x2). The award ceremoney was opened…

Protests erupt across Muslim world against US recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital

BGMN

Muslims across the world observe Friday as a protest day against US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Muslims across the world have observed Friday as a protest day against the United States decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, defying the [UN resolutions against the move][1] and stepping back from the two-state solution of the conflict. Marches were staged in Pakistan, AJK, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, Afghanistan, India-held Kashmir, Jordan, Tunisia, Somalia, Yemen, and Indonesia. Protest demonstrations were also held in Japan and other parts of the world. Dawn

Perseverance is needed in Tunisian parliament  

BGMN

I have had the opportunity to follow in a daze, footages of debates of the House of People’s Representatives (HPR) on the draft Finance law for 2018. As Tunisian citizen, I was bewildered between the kind of harsh and abusive criticisms and allegations of some deputies  towards some representatives of state institutions as well as toward their colleagues, which some of them are meaningless and reckless. We do not care which party succeed to lead the discussion in its favour. During this parliamentary plenary sessions what worried us most, is…

Mitacs Canada Award for Outstanding Innovation bestowed to Tunisian young engineer and startupper Houssem Zouaghi

BGMN

A former student of the Higher Institute Multimedia Arts of Manouba (ISAMM)  Houssem Zouaghi sets for himself an objective when he was faced with a choice of a subject of a graduation project which he said that he wanted it to be “out of the box”. Surfing the net, he came across Mitacs. It is a Canadian organisation that has been designing and implementing research and training programmes for 18 years. Mitacs Globalink Programme offers fellowship between Canada and Several other partner countries including Tunisia. Houssem Zouaghi’s graduation project was…

Tunisia, Spring of general aviation

BGMN

Tunisia, cradle of the “Arab Spring” that started in January 2011 by establishing the first democracy in an Arab country, is completing its redemptive work in all areas, including that of civil aviation. Because we tend to ignore it, this country is undergoing with aeronautics, long standing bounds marked by several “premières” worldwide. This rich past remained for a long time confined in the register of history, before a group of individuals who are fond of aviation to which they had devoted all their professional life as pilots, mechanics or…

The world is engulfed in a ‘learning crisis’ — but it’s not too late to save students

BGMN

The United Nations has declared that the world is suffering from a “learning crisis.” Although students are physically going to school, a quarter of a billion aren’t learning anything. In a recent TED talk, Tunisian politician and education expert Amel Karboul offers ways to solve the crisis. In 2014, the United Nations put the state of global education in bleak perspective: Some 250 million students weren’t learning anything in school, a report found, despite those kids having received several years of education. These ineffective systems were leading to a reported waste of…