1207 issue: week ending 26 March 2021

Egypt: Russia marketing its Northern Sea route as alternative to Suez Canal

Russia cheekily pushed the Northern Sea Route on Thursday as an "alternative" to Egypt's Suez Canal after a huge container ship blocked the busy shipping lane. President Vladimir Putin has long promoted the passage along the country's Siberian coast as a rival to the...
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Sahel: Attacks on Niger targets continue

Eleven people were killed on Wednesday in western Niger, a flashpoint for jihadist attacks, when armed men on motorbikes raided three villages near the Malian border, local officials said. "The assailants arrived on several motorbikes at around 5pm. They killed three...
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Libya: First group of mercenaries linked to Turkey leaving Libya

Pro-Ankara Syrian militia fighters deployed in Libya have started to withdraw, a French diplomatic source said on Thursday, describing the move as "encouraging". "This is one of the encouraging gestures that we have seen. There are movements (of the Syrian militia...
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Tunisia: Italian garbage still piled up in Tunisia, owners unwilling to remove it

Italy and Tunisia were pressed on Thursday to clear hundreds of containers of waste illegally shipped and stored at a port in the North African county. In the summer of 2020, Tunisian customs officials seized 282 containers that had been shipped from Italy and...
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