DOF Subsea awarded contracts in Mediterranean and Canada

DOF Subsea has been awarded a contract in the Mediterranean by Transmediterranean Pipeline Company Limited and another in Canada by an as yet unspecified Canadian operator. The contract with Transmediterranean Pipeline Company Limited (TMPC) will see DOF responsible for pipeline inspection on TMPC’s pipeline system. The work will be undertaken in the third quarter of 2017. The scope of work includes inspection of five pipelines between Sicily and Tunisia. DOF Subsea will deploy the survey vessel Geosund to complete the inspection work and undertake any pipeline intervention required. DOF Subsea successfully completed…

Mosul mosque where Islamic State took world stage lies in rubble

The leaning minaret of Mosul’s Grand al-Nuri Mosque survived conquests by the Mongols and the Ottomans, neglect under Saddam Hussein, and air raids during the Iran-Iraq War and the U.S. invasion in 2003. But after three years of Islamic State rule, it is now little more than a pile of stones at the center of a shattered city. By all accounts except their own, the jihadists rigged the mosque and its 850-year-old tower with explosives and blew them up last week as advancing Iraqi forces came within steps of the…

Annual MENA wellness growth

The Global Wellness Institute has released positive data on inbound wellness travel in the Middle East-North Africa region.  The Global Wellness Institute has released new data on wellness travel in the Middle East-North Africa region. MENA wellness tourism is growing 6%, and spa revenues 10%, annually –with more than two-thirds of wellness travel spend coming from inbound tourists. Despite security concerns for Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, MENA’s wellness tourism revenue grew annually from 2013-2015 (from $7.3 billion to $8.3 billion). MENA’s spa market grew even faster: annual revenues jumped from $1.7 billion to…

Tunisia: one in two Tunisians uses the Internet (Internet World Stats)

According to new data from the Internet World Stats report, which is based in particular on data from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Tunisia has crossed the threshold of 50% of the population using the Internet. Tunisia thus has 5,800,000 Internet users for a population of 11,494,760, i.e. a penetration rate of 50.5%. As for the number of Internet users in Morocco, it is 20,207,154 out of a population of 35,241,418, i.e. a penetration rate of 57.3%. A rate that makes it the most connected country of the Maghreb. With…

A path to democracy paved with pitfalls

Would you like some good news on international affairs? About a place that survived a dictatorship and revolution, and created its own constitution and democratic government? It’s not America, but Tunisia. Yes, Tunisia! Battered by centuries of invasions and a 35-year dictatorship, four groups forged a new constitution to win a Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. During a week-long School for International Training faculty workshop, seven professors met with historical and archeological experts, members of Parliament and political parties, non-governmental organization leaders, two Nobel Prize-winning groups and the Tunisian president.…

Body of Berlin attack suspect returned to Tunisia

The body of Anis Amri, the Tunisian blamed for the deadly truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market, was repatriated to the North African country on Friday for burial. The remains of the 24-year-old, who was shot dead by Italian police on December 23 while on the run in Milan, arrived at Tunis-Carthage airport and were handed over to his family, an airport source said. He is due to be buried in his hometown of Oueslatia in central Tunisia, one of his brothers, Abdelkader, told AFP by telephone. Amri, a…

US reveals new airport security measures to avoid expanding laptop ban

US Homeland Security secretary John Kelly has revealed new measures to screen flights coming into the US, in a bid to avoid expanding the current laptop ban further. On Wednesday, as reported by The Guardian, Kelly said the introduction of stricter security measures airside will remove the need for the administration from enforcing the in-cabin electronics ban to more countries, but as threats are still lurking, something must be done. “Inaction is not an option,” Kelly said. The US currently prevents devices larger than your average smartphone from being carried…

Tunisian Security Forces Dismantle Cell Linked to Syria Terror Groups

Tunisian security forces arrested on Thursday 13 members of a network that works on financing terrorists in Syria. The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the cell transferred the funds to Syria through Tunisia, Libya and Turkey. The members of the network hail from various countries and include two women. The operatives transferred vast sums of money to Turkey, where a Turkish member of the network, sent them to Syria. Eleven members of the network were arrested in the city of Ben Guerdan in southern Tunisia. Most of them…

More service and new long-haul destinations next winter

Thomas Cook Germany is extending its 24-hour customer satisfaction guarantee, adding new destinations and expanding its premium offers for winter 2017/18. Germany’s second-largest tour operator will step up its focus on service next winter. Germany chief Stefanie Berk announced that the group’s ‘24-hour customer satisfaction promise’, guaranteeing that hotel problems will be solved within 24 hours or customers get their money back, will be extended geographically. So far it covers most short-haul destinations. From next winter onwards, the service will cover all long-haul destinations offered by premium brand Thomas Cook…

Tunisia urged to criminalise attacks on armed forces

A Tunisian security union on Tuesday called on parliament and the government to quickly introduce a bill criminalising attacks on armed forces after a security officer was burned during protests. The Internal Security Forces (ISF), the largest security union in Tunisia, called on Parliament to hold an emergency session to discuss the bill, with the president calling for zero tolerance for violators of the emergency law which has been in force in the country since November 2015. The city of Sidi Bouzid last week saw tribal conflict and violence escalate…