Day: February 25, 2017

Kasserine Pass: America’s Most Humiliating Defeat of World War II

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Beware a Desert Fox when he’s cornered. It was North Africa, in the winter of 1943, and American soldiers were feeling cocky as they prepared for their first ground battle against the Germans in World War II. So far, it hadn’t been a bad war for the U.S. Army. The GIs were well fed, well paid and well equipped, especially compared to their threadbare and envious British allies. Even better, their baptism by fire had been to splash ashore in Algeria and Morocco in November 1942, where the defenders had…

Italy deports two over suspected contact with Berlin attacker Europe

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Italy has deported two Tunisian asylum seekers who have been classed as a danger to national security, the Interior Ministry in Rome said on Saturday. One of the two is thought to have been in contact with Anis Amri, the Tunisian national who carried out a terrorist attack on a Berlin Christmas market in December. The 44-year-old is thought to have met the prospective attacker in June 2015 while staying with another man from Tunisia. That man has since landed in jail in Italy. Amri deliberately ploughed a hijacked truck…

Top Wheat Buyers Grow More of Their Own to Swell Global Glut

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North Africa farms recover from drought to boost output by 25% While still dependent on imports, region will be buying less As if the global wheat surplus couldn’t get much worse, some of the biggest buyers may not need as much. That could swell stockpiles already expected to be the biggest ever. Countries in North Africa like Egypt and Algeria — all dependent on foreign wheat to help keep their populations fed — probably will harvest 25 percent more on their own farms this year if the weather is as…

Belgium partly lifts travel restrictions for Tunisia

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Belgium has decided to partly lift travel restrictions for Tunisia. “Belgians can travel to Tunisia on the Mahdia-Monastir-Sousse-Hammamet-Nabeul-Tunis-Bizerte coastal route, but caution is recommended,” according to the latest travel advice posted Thursday on the website of the Belgian Foreign Ministry. Non-essential trips are not recommended in the rest of the Tunisian territory, while trips are formally discouraged in the border zones with Algeria west of the Tabarka – Jendouba – Kef – Kasserine – Gafsa – Tozeur axis, and in border areas with Libya south of the Tozeur-Kebili – Matmata…