Day: April 18, 2023

The leader of the ruling MPLA party João Lourenço has called for the promotion of a sincere and genuine spirit of reconciliation in behavior and attitudes of every citizen and every political party.

The call was made at the opening ceremony of the Fourth Ordinary Session of the party’s Central Committee, held Tuesday at Luanda’s Belas Conference Center.

Delivering his speech, the leader reiterated MPLA´s commitment to continue fighting for the consolidation of achievements based on independence, peace and national reconciliation.

Also head of the Angolan State, João Lourenço pointed to the implementation of public policies based on the party’s pledge made during the last election, which ensures the sustainable economic development and the well-being of the Angolan people.

He slammed some opposition parties, which never voted in the favour of the State Budget, the instrument aimed to implement the development programmes, such as the construction of the roads, ports, airports, railways, schools, universities, hospitals, water and energy production and distribution plants, as well as social housing.

João Lourenço added that the State Budget allows the employment of the new staff, the payment of salaries and subsidies and also other workers´ rights.

The ruling party leader also accused some parties that try simulating being strong advocate of public interests, while in practice, they do the contrary, they fail to vote in favour of State Budget during 31 years, not even accept election results.

“However, he said, it is fair to recognise that in Parliament there are political parties that over the years have taken a serious, responsible, and patriotic stance”.

The Government has been working on increase the jobs, housing, educational facilities of all levels, hospital units, sports infrastructure, professional training for young people, encouraging them to become entrepreneurs.

“The public tender, underway since 2019, to hire the professionals for health and education sectors are designed for the Angolans in general, but especially our young people”, concluded João Lourenço.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

The 5th Central Brigade specialising in the fight against cybercrimes has been assigned by the Prosecutor’s Office at the Tunis 1 Court of First Instance of Tunis 1 the task of carrying on investigations into the comments of leader of Ennahdha movement Rached Ghannouchi, who was arrested at his home on Monday evening, spokesperson for the National Guard Houssemeddine Jebabli told TAP on Tuesday.

Rached Ghannouchi’s comments fall under criminal acts intended to overthrow the government or incite inhabitants to attack each other with weapons, causing chaos, murder and looting, said Jebabli

He added that the prosecutor’s office ordered the 5th brigade to search the central headquarters of the Ennahdha movement for the purpose of investigations.

Five people, including the leader of the Ennahdha movement, were arrested, the National Guard spokesman added.

Rached Ghannouchi was arrested Monday, after a detention warrant was issued against him by the prosecutor’s office at the Court of First Instance of Tunis 1.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Prime Minister Najla Bouden met Tuesday at the Kasbah Palace the members of the AI club “Haffouz Heroes”, who will represent Tunisia at the world robotics and AI challenge “First Lego League”, which will take place from April 19 to 22 in Houston, United States.

Bouden encouraged the high school students of Haffouz, Kairouan Governorate, to shine brightly in order to raise the national colours at this international event.

The Haffouz Robotics Club is made up of five high school students studying at Farhat Hached High School in Kairouan. They won first place in the Tunisian Robotics Championship.

This is the 7th edition of the international First Lego League competition. It aims to introduce children aged 4-16 to science, technology, engineering and mathematics through hands-on, fun and exciting learning.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunisia and Syria have agreed to strengthen bilateral security cooperation, particularly in the fight against terrorism, organised crime and human trafficking networks.

According to a joint statement issued on the the visit of Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad to Tunisia at the invitation of his Tunisian counterpart, the two parties stressed the importance of intensifying contacts in the coming period in order to establish consultation and coordination on various bilateral issues and common interests and to plan the holding of a high joint commission meeting.

In this document, Tunisia and Syria insist on the revival of economic relations in priority sectors, enhancing consular and humanitarian cooperation and holding the joint consular committee meeting as soon as possible.

The visit of the Syrian Foreign Minister to Tunisia was an opportunity to review bilateral cooperation and ways of promoting it to the desired level.

The Tunisian side argued for Syria’s reintegration into its Arab environment, convinced that peace and stability in the Arab region depend on peace and stability in Syria, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Tunisia expressed its full support for Syria in the face of repeated aggression by the Zionist entity on its land, stressing its legitimate right to regain its sovereignty over the Golan Heights and all occupied territories.

The two sides also discussed the situation in Palestine and the Israeli aggressions against the holy places, including Al-Quds Al-Sharif. They stated the unwavering support for the Palestinian people and their right to establish an independent state with Al-Quds as its capital.

The two ministers also emphasised the need to unite all Arab efforts to address together the challenges facing the region in light of the new regional and international context.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Chinese Ambassador in Tunis, Li Wan, on Tuesday, expressed his willingness to step up cooperation programmes with the Tunis-Afrique-Presse (TAP) news agency through organising training programmes for the agency’s journalists in Beijing.

Li Wan was speaking during a visit to TAP’s headquarters in Tunis, where he met with the agency’s CEO, Najeh Missaoui, in the presence of a delegation of TAP executives.

He also pointed to the possibility of providing the agency with equipment to strengthen its technical capacity.

The Chinese diplomat commended relations between Tunisia and China, which he said have been steadily improving in recent years, particularly in the fields of infrastructure and green energy.

He cited projects financed by China in Tunisia, such as the Medjerda canal, the Sfax hospital, the Ben Arous sports complex and the diplomatic academy, the cost of which is estimated at 88.5 million dinars.

Tunisia is a privileged partner for China, he said, stressing that relations between the two countries are based on mutual respect.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse