Share this article ShareIn 2023, the path from North Africa across the central Mediterranean to Italy became Europe’s busiest migration route. According to the UNHCR, a total of 260,662 people have crossed the Mediterranean Sea from Northern Africa to Europe since the beginning of 2023. Data from Italy’s Interior ministry showed the migrant arrivals in Italy jumped 50% in 2023 from the previous year. “My goal is to work in Africa, block the departures in Africa, evaluate the possibility to open up hot-spots there to establish who has the right and who does not to come to Europe,” Meloni added. “At the same time we’ll work on legal migration.”The Italian premier also addressed other hot international topics, clarifying Rome’s position on the Israel-Hamas war.

Kamran Bokhari, PhD is the Senior Director, Eurasian Security & Prosperity Portfolio at the New Lines Institute for Strategy & Policy in Washington, DC. Dr. Bokhari is also a national security and foreign policy specialist at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute. He has served as the Coordinator for Central Asia Studies at the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute. Follow him on Twitter at @KamranBokhari

Felix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has won a landslide victory, according to provisional results announced by the country’s election commission, which has secured him a second term in a vote opposition has dismissed as a “sham”. “I have been re-elected president of all Congolese,” Tshisekedi told cheering supporters. Nine opposition candidates — Mukwege, Fayulu and Katumbi — have signed a declaration rejecting what they termed a “sham” election and called for a re-run. Fayulu told reporters in Kinshasa the results “are a masquerade. Voting was officially extended by a day to account for problems, and continued for days afterwards in remote areas, according to observers.

First DC connection between Europe and North Africa gets €45 million from EIBJanuary 4, 2024, by Nadja SkopljakElmed, set to become the first direct current (DC) connection between Europe and North Africa, has secured €45 million in funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB). Source: Elmed ProjectThe €921 million project concerns the implementation of an HVDC link interconnecting Tunisia and Italy across the Strait of Sicily and the associated connections to the respective national grids. It will have a capacity of 600 MW, DC voltage of 500 kV and a maximum depth of approximately 800 meters. Italy’s transmission system operator (TSO) Terna and STEG, the Tunisian electricity and gas company, are in charge of the electricity interconnection. The news came a month after the announcement that the European Commission had set aside €307 million for the project.

A cemetery dating from the sixth and seventh centuries containing rare artefacts and bodies placed in a crouched position has been unearthed in Wales. Around 80 bodies—buried around 1,500 years ago—are thought to be interred at the site within the grounds of Fonmon Castle near Barry, Vale of Glamorgan. The site, excavated in the past three years by specialists from the universities of Cardiff and Reading, is close to the end of the runway at Cardiff airport. The dig at Fonmon Castle, and accompanying new research, features in the BBC2 programme, Digging for Britain, which is due to be screened on 4 January. The archaeologists have also found fragments of glass from Bordeaux and pottery from North Africa, reflecting the privileged status of the people buried on site.

The Kigali-based electric transport energy company Ampersand has raised US$19.5 million in equity and debt funding to help it continue to expand operations. Its US$19.5 million funding round was led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF), and joined by Acumen and Hard Edged Hope Fund. It also includes a US$7.5 million debt facility from Cygnum Capital’s Africa Go Green Fund. With this funding, we are on track to deliver thousands more electric motorcycles in the coming months,” said Josh Whale, CEO and founder of Ampersand. It also reflects our investors’ commitment to support the green transition in Africa.

The movie is also on the shortlist to represent Italy in the best international film category for the Oscars. The trio is united by their fear of the far Right, “which has gotten further than ever in more European countries,” the Englishman says. The migration emergency has always existed; the shame will always accompany us.”A scene from the desert crossing in 'Me Captain.' Garrone chatted with EL PAÍS in September, when his film was screened at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain. Since Me Captain premiered in Italy on September 7, it has been earning more and more money each week.

As the Libya Energy&Economic Summit (https://apo-opa.co/3H7seUz) prepares for its second edition on January 13-14, 2024, Robert Abela, Prime Minister of Malta, is confirmed to speak at the transformative event, reflecting the growing interest of European countries in Libya’s energy prospects. Following growing cooperation between Libya and Malta, Prime Minister Abela is expected to discuss trade and commercial ties between the two countries and explore the feasibility of a proposed renewable energy interconnector project. The Prime Minister will also be accompanied by Dr. Miriam Dalli, Maltese Minister of Environment, Energy and Enterprise, who will participate in a panel on renewable power and its role in supporting Libya’s broader economic growth. The Libya Energy&Economic Summit, which is organized by Energy Capital&Power, returns for its second edition in Tripoli on January 13-14, 2024 under the theme, A New Libya: Built on Energy. The historic event is poised to explore and unlock partnership and investment opportunities within Libya’s dynamic energy sector.

Egypt is targeting to increase exports of chemicals and fertilizers by 10% in 2024, Chairman of the Chemicals and Fertilizers Export Council Khaled Abul-Makarem told Al Arabiya Business. He noted that the council aims to access new markets in 2024 via the chemical and fertilizers products. The North African country’s exports of chemicals and fertilizers exceeded $6 billion in 2023, down by around 30% from roughly $8.63 billion in 2022, he added. Copyright © 2022 Arab Finance Brokerage Company All rights reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).

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Further tension in the Middle East pushed oil prices higher yesterday. While it is not clear who was behind the attack, it only adds to the growing tensions in the region. In North Africa, Libya has also been forced to shut its largest oil field, Sharara, after protesters entered the field, which was producing around 270Mbbls/d ahead of the shutting. Nigeria saw the largest increase over the month, growing by 50Mbbls/d, whilst the UAE saw the largest decline, falling by 70Mbbls/d. Given that some OPEC+ members agreed on additional voluntarily cuts of almost 900Mbbls/d for 1Q24, OPEC output will edge lower this month.

Li and Kheira reunited last month at an event marking the 60th anniversary of the sending of China's first foreign aid medical mission, which was sent to Algeria. In November 1984, Li, then a surgeon at the Hospital of Stomatology affiliated with Wuhan University, joined the 11th Chinese medical aid mission to Algeria. Contribution hailedDuring her two years in Algeria, Li once performed six surgeries in a row without sleep, helping people with sinus problems and neck tumors live normal lives. Since China sent its first foreign aid medical team to Algeria in 1963, nearly 30,000 medical workers have provided treatment to nearly 300 million patients in 76 countries and regions around the world, the National Health Commission said. In September, Wuhan sent its 28th medical aid team to Algeria.

There has been noticeable strain in relations between France and Morocco, with the ties between the two being once again tested this early 2024. The French resistance to Morocco’s pressure to recognize its Western Sahara plan and France’s cozy relationship with Algeria, Rabat’s enemy brother, will likely persist with Paris seeing its interest in Algerian gas and Algiers’ role in the Sahel as critical factors. Access AnalysisLogin hereSubscribe

At the time, the actions of key actors in business and politics that triggered moments of extreme disruption were written off as anomalies whose impact could quickly be contained. This lingering complacency over the attractive power of globalization was also visible in the recent shock over attacks by Yemen’s Houthi movement on merchant shipping in the Red Sea. With the help of military aid from Iran, the Houthis have managed to seize most of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, and the crucial seaport of Hodeidah. Nevertheless, until recently, many observers believed that economic pressures might eventually encourage restraint among the Houthi leadership. Even India has dispatched naval vessels to the Red Sea.

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