Year: 2017

Tunisian fishermen vow to prevent anti-immigrant ship from docking

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Tunisian fishermen vowed Sunday to block a ship carrying far-right activists from docking at their port, dealing a fresh blow to their mission to disrupt the flow of migrant boats from north Africa to Europe. The C-Star, a boat chartered by anti-immigration group “Generation Identity”, passed through waters off Libya on Saturday. It briefly tailed the Aquarius, operated by French group SOS Mediterranee, one of several NGO boats conducting search and rescue operations in an area notorious for deadly migrant boat sinkings. Having left Cyprus on August 1, the 40-meter…

Conference on combatting electronic terrorism in Benghazi

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Delegates from over a dozen countries are meeting in Benghazi for a three-day conference on the use of the internet by terrorists. The International Conference on Combating Electronic Terrorism was opened at AGOCO’s conference hall in Benghazi by the city’s acting mayor Abdul Rahman Elabbar, who said the aim was to study the rise of cyberterrorism and its repercussions on countries around the world. It aims to analyse the nature and basics of this form of terrorism and seek ways to confront it. Attending are experts on terrorism, cyberterrorism and…

Tunisia-Tourism: 3.5 million visitors at end of July

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Nearly 3.5 million tourists visited Tunisia until July, Tourism and Handicrafts Minister Selma Elloumi Rekik said, noting that Tunisia has been able to recover traditional markets, such as the French market, which still occupies the top spot. The minister, who on Saturday paid a working visit to Mahdia, said the lifting of restrictions on travel to Tunisia decided by the United Kingdom, prompted the resumption of programming of the destination Tunisia by the British, stressing the need to open up to new markets, such as the Gulf and the Chinese…

Tunisia loses swathes of forest in fires

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Around 2,000 hectares of forest in Tunisia have gone up in flames over the past week, with some of the fires probably started deliberately, the authorities said on Saturday. Many of the blazes have been put down to a heatwave gripping the North African country, but arson has also been blamed in some cases. “Since July 29 we have experienced a wave of forest fires — 94 outbreaks across eight provinces,” emergency services spokesman Salah Korbi told a news conference. The secretary of state for agriculture, Omar al-Behi, said “around…

A Solar Plant in the Sahara Could Help Power the EU

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As Europe tries to wean itself off of fossil fuels, it looks toward renewable energy like wind and solar. But many parts of Europe aren’t exactly known for their sunny weather, which limits how much clean energy the continent can produce. To remedy that, the EU is looking to build a gigantic solar farm across the Mediterranean in Tunisia that could power much of Europe. The solar farm would produce 4.5 gigawatts of power from the Sahara desert in Tunisia. Underwater cables would transmit that power to Malta, Italy, and…

Algeria’s Closed Border Syndrome

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Algeria, Africa’s largest country, shares borders with 6 countries, all of them are closed with the exception of its land frontiers with Tunisia. This closed-border attitude is reflective of a lack of a neighborhood policy in an increasingly integrated continent where collective efforts are the best means to countering trans-border challenges. With Morocco, the borders have been closed following a unilateral decision by the Algerian regime in 1994 in response to Morocco’s decision to impose visa on Algerian citizens out of security concerns in the wake of an attack on…

West Africa should break bond with euro to survive

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France’s colonial-era trade agreements with its former African colonies are undermining their policy independence, industrialisation and sovereignty.As part of the deal for the colonies to become independent, France in 1960 negotiated the Pacte Coloniale – sets of co-operation agreements covering security, economies, public projects, politics and culture, among others – which would determine the former colonies’ post-independence relationship with France. One of the punishing colonial era agreements is France’s currency union with its former colonies. The CFA franc was created in 1945, and is the common currency of 14 countries in…

Is this Tunisian chile paste the new sriracha? Not yet, but it sure should be.

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In 2014, Food & Wine called it the “new sriracha” sauce. Time named it one of 2015’s food trends. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been using it in recipes for years. London’s Yotam Ottolenghi learned to make it for a 2013 episode of his BBC TV show “Mediterranean Feast.” U.S. chefs have been playing with it, too; Seattle’s Renee Erickson features it in a delightfully fiery dish of roasted carrots and fennel. [Make the recipe: Roasted Pepper and Tomato Salad With Tuna and Black Olives ] While it hasn’t yet become the next sriracha, harissa — Tunisia’s legendary…

IMF Statement on Tunisia

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Growth is slowly improving, but strong consumption is fueling inflation and further increases already high fiscal and external deficits. Exchange rate flexibility, tighter monetary policy, and fuel price increases have already started to address the imbalances, and the recent launch of the fight against corruption has improved confidence. Putting the fiscal deficit on a downward path is critically important and will require additional adjustment, including on the public wage bill that is among the highest in the world. An International Monetary Fund team led by Mr. Björn Rother visited Tunis…

Climate Weekly: Desert miracle or mirage?

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Could Tunisia be the first North African country to export solar power from the fringes of the Sahara Desert to Europe? It has the sunshine, the legislation and a willing developer with a massive 4.5GW proposal. TuNur chief executive Kevin Sara told Climate Home why he believes it can succeed where the high profile Desertec initiative failed. Showing it benefits the Tunisian people will be critical, as well as overcoming resistance from the state electricity monopoly. EU coal battle Lobby group Euracoal is threatening to sue the European Commission over tougher clean air rules…