Chinese tours to Africa rise on deep ties

The deep friendship forged between China and African countries, especially with the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), has led to an increasing number of Chinese visiting Africa this year. Travel packages to African countries, such as visits to South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, were labelled as popular on the websites of several online travel agencies, including ctrip.com, qunar.com and lvmama.com. Most of the packages go for 10,000 to 15,000 yuan per person for a 10-day trip. The number of Chinese tourists who book trips…

Anger as Italy arrests Tunisian fishermen ‘rescuing migrants’

Italy has been urged to release six Tunisian fishermen who were arrested at sea on suspicion of smuggling migrants. Supporters of the fishermen, from the south-east coastal town of Zarzis, say their colleagues were simply aiding a boat in distress. The boat, carrying 14 people, was trying to reach the Italian island of Lampedusa last week. One of the arrested fishermen is Chamseddine Bourassine, president of the Association of Fishermen in Zarzis. He is a local legend in the town, reports the BBC’s Rana Jawad in Tunis. A small protest…