Month: August 2018

Migrant boat sinks off Tunisia, at least five dead

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Tunisia’s coast guard said it recovered the bodies of five migrants on Thursday whose boat sank as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to the Italian island of Lampedusa. Crews were now searching for another five Tunisians that relatives had said were also on the boat that set off this week from the southern coastal community of Zarzis, the coast guard added.  Human traffickers are increasingly using Tunisia as a launch pad for migrants heading to Europe as the Libyan coast guard, aided by armed groups, has tightened controls. Many…

UN-AU Conference Showcases ICT Innovations to Attract Youth to Agriculture

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-Discussing the role of ICTs in making the rural sector more attractive for young people, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva noted the need to “think beyond farm jobs,” and explore employment opportunities across entire agri-food value chains. -In a related initiative, FAO and its partners are supporting a series of #HackagainstHunger events to engage young people from different countries in Africa to find innovative solutions that address challenges in food and agriculture. A two-day conference on youth employment in agriculture has highlighted opportunities to tap the potential of Africa’s…

Newspaper keeps Italian heritage in Tunisia alive

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Silvia Finzi yells in Tunisian Arabic to her secretary down the hall before turning to her colleague and switching to Italian. Sitting in her office on Avenue de la Liberté in downtown Tunis, Finzi sighs, lights a cigarette and apologizes, “A busy day,” she explains, in impeccable French. Finzi is one of the last of what she calls “la Tunisie plurielle” — the multi-ethnic Tunisia that prevailed for about a decade after the country gained independence in 1956. She descends from an Italian family that has lived in Tunisia for five generations. Once the country’s largest foreign community,…

Underground irrigation technology helping Tunisian farmers counter drought

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An underground irrigation technology has helped 100 farmers in Tunisia to continue farming in times of droughts.  Dubbed the Buried Diffuser, the technology utilizes 2 times less irrigation water than drip irrigation, while raising yields 3 to 5 times more; and ensuring water is not lost through evaporation. Developed by Chahbani Technologies of Tunisia, the buried diffuser technology comes in three forms for use in irrigating trees, vegetables, and container plants. In Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Greece, California, and France, it’s being used to irrigate trees like olive, date palm, fig citrus,…

Tunisians preach tolerance as Muslims, Jews join Christian celebration

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Manifesting a rare exhibition of religious solidarity, dozens of Muslims and Jews gathered in a port area at the Tunisian capital to witness the revival of “The Madonna of Trapani”, a Catholic tradition introduced to Tunis a century ago. The statue of “the Madonna of Trapani” was presented to Tunisians of all religions in celebration of the mid-August feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, on Wednesday. As scores of Muslim residents and Jews of French origin who were born in Tunisia gathered outside the church at La Goulette, prayers…

Pak Navy ship Aslat visits Tunisia

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Pakistan Navy Ship Aslat has visited Tunis, Tunisia as part of ongoing Overseas Deployment to Mediterranean and European Countries. The port call was aimed at enhancing brotherly ties between the two countries. PN ship’s visit to Tunisic after a gap of 13 years would certainly serve a great deal in paving the way forward to reinvigorate the relations between Pakistan Navy and Tunisian Navy, a press release issued here by Director General Public Relations (Navy) Tuesday said. Upon arrival at Port, PNS ASLAT was warmly welcomed and received by Manager…

Meet the 30 startups shortlisted for the 2018 edition of Demo Africa in Casablanca

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Following a few months of innovation roadshows, city tours and virtual adjudication, the management team of DEMO Africa today announced the selection of the 30 finalist startups for the 2018 edition of the annual conference. They are: Accounteer (Nigeria): Accounteer is a cloud-based accounting platform that allows SMEs to create invoices, track expenses and receive online payments. ADN Corp (Senegal): ADN is building applications to help African companies to improve their sales, marketing, and finance operations with decision support analytics systems. Atlan Space (Morocco): Atlan Space is an Artificial Intelligence-based drone technology that tracks illegal fishing in…

Tunisia, Canada conduct joint maritime military exercise in northern Tunisian coast

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A joint Tunisian-Canadian maritime military exercise was conducted in northern Tunisian coast, the Ministry of National Defence said in a statement Tuesday. These exercises, which took place Monday, were carried out by an elite unit of the Navy aboard a missile boat and Canadian frigate “Ville de Québec”, said the ministry. They aim to train national naval personnel from both countries to better coordinate in the fight against illicit activities and in sea surveillance. The Navy had already participated in the first edition of this military exercise in 2017. The…

Moroccans among Highest Numbers of Legal Immigrants to France for Jobs

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A 2017 report from OECD has listed Moroccans among the top immigrants who leave their homeland for France for economic reasons. The report, titled “The Recruitment of Immigrant Workers” from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) noted that out of a total of 258,900 permanent immigrants who entered France in 2016, 10.8 percent fell in the “economic” immigration category. In comparison, 38 percent came in the “family” immigration category. The report said that immigrants from non-European countries coming to France for economic reasons enter mainly from the US, Morocco, and Tunisia.  Intra-European…

The Great American Eclipse Is History So Start Planning The ‘Eclipse Of The Century’ … In Tatouine

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Hoping to tour the Stars Wars sets in Tunisia one day? Or see Egypt’s Valley of the Kings? Make that day August 2, 2027, when the longest eclipse remaining in any of our lifetimes will plunge a narrow strip of North Africa into darkness for a whopping maximum of six minutes and 23 seconds. The incredible spectacle of totality will be visible from the ancient city of Thebes near Luxor, Egypt. Also Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Islam’s holiest city and the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad. The moon’s shadow will even travel across the Tunisian desert,…