Tunisia’s Tourism Minister Salma Elloumi: Tunisia loves Chinese Visitors

Tunisia would love more Chinese Tourists. Salma Elloumi, Tunisian Minister of Tourism, said Tunisia received around 16,000 Chinese tourists until Nov 10 this year, an increase of 190 percent compared with the same period last year. Chinese tourist market would be a significant factor to revive Tunisian tourism industry, Tunisian Minister of Tourism said Thursday during a session of parliamentary hearing. While in 2016, the total number of Chinese tourists in Tunisia only reached around 7,300. The data shows a significant increase of Chinese emerging market. China is known as…

Algeria picks up 286 boat migrants en route to Europe

Algeria’s coastguard has picked up 286 illegal migrants heading across the Mediterranean to Europe by boat, the Defence Ministry has said. The migrants were detained on several boats between Thursday and Saturday, according to a ministry statement carried on Sunday by the state news agency, APS. Algeria has so far seen relatively few attempts to cross to Europe by boat, compared to the hundreds of thousands of mostly African would-be migrants who have set off in search of prosperity or security from elsewhere along the north African coast, mostly from…

Supermodel leads mourning for fashion’s ‘King of Cling’

Supermodel Naomi Campbell and Tunisia’s president led mourners in a final tribute Monday to French-Tunisian fashion designer Azzedine Alaia, who died this month aged 77 after winning a worldwide following. Campbell and fellow fashion icon Farida Khelfa, close friends of Alaia, accompanied his remains from France to Tunisia, French Ambassador Olivier Poivre d’Arvor told AFP. Tunisian mourners carry the coffin of late French-Tunisian fashion designer Azzedine Alaia, who died this month aged 77, during his funeral in the Sidi Bou Said cemetery in the capital Tunis on November 20, 2017…

2 Tunisians learn of software, America

Dawn Hammond, an academic adviser at Ivy Tech Community College, hoped to share Thanksgiving with two students unfamiliar with the holiday: Raki Glaii and Seif Edinne Chouaya. The men are from Tunisia, a country in northern Africa between Algeria and Libya, but for this academic year, Fort Wayne is their home. They are attending Ivy Tech through the Tunisia Community College Scholarship Program, which allows students to explore American culture and build Tunisia’s workforce. It is part of the U.S. State Department’s Thomas Jefferson Scholarships. Participants must be proficient in…

South Africa shows signs of bouncing back in governance index

Despite current controversy over state capture and financial instability‚ governance in South Africa is showing signs of bouncing back from a decade of decline. This is according to the Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG)‚ a monitor of overall governance performance in African countries which was released on Monday. The Seychelles‚ Namibia and Tunisia occupied the top tier positions in terms of overall performance while South Africa remains in the top ten most deteriorated countries over the past decade along with Libya‚ Madagascar‚ Mali and the Central African Republic.…

US official meets UN-backed prime minister in Tunisia

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan met Fayez al-Sarraj, head of Libya’s UN-backed unity government on Saturday in the Tunisian capital. According to Sarraj’s press office, he met Sullivan, who is in Tunisia as part of his official visits, in the country’s capital, Tunis. During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations, political development in the country, economic cooperation and investments in petroleum sector, the prime minister’s office statement added. It also said Sarraj demanded Sullivan support the state’s anti-terror organs by arming them “sufficiently.” Noting the U.S. support…