Posted on April 11, 2008 04:35 PM under:
Tunisia
Four of my friends and colleagues, all very talented and passionate photographers, will be showing some of their work, along with some other photographers, as a group they called f/10, in a photography expo that will be opening on April 15th at 18:30 at the El Teatro space in the El Mechtel Hotel in downtown Tunis, Belvédère. The expo will go on until April 28th. The expo is really worth checking out, so make sure you add it to your schedules and pass by to enjoy some really interesting photography work....
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Posted on February 18, 2008 11:29 PM under:
Tunisia
Some more good eco-friendly news from Tunisia... Three wind farms with a total capacity of 120 megawatts of electricity will be built by 2009 in Bizerta, Jendouba and Beja. Tunisia's wind power energy strategy aims at increasing the total electricity production resulting from this non polluting form of energy to 175 MW by 2010, thus amounting to some 4,2% of the electricity production in the country. [...] ... the Tunisian government has so far pledged some 18 million dollars of funds for setting up the project. [Source: Tunisia Online News] Tunisia already has one wind farm in Hawariya (Cap Bon),...
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Posted on February 13, 2008 01:28 PM under:
Tunisia
Kyocera Corporation just announced that it will supply and install its solar power generating systems in Tunisia under a yen-loan project by the Japanese government through Itochu Corporation. Starting in April 2008, Kyocera will successively install its solar power generating systems in 500 households in villages that do not currently have electricity in the three Tunisian governorates of Kef, Siliana and Beja. These systems will charge storage batteries using power generated during daylight hours and make the power available for residential lighting and other needs at night. Anticipated benefits include new freedom to engage in nighttime studies and side jobs,...
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Posted on February 7, 2008 12:01 PM under:
Tunisia
Italian property firm Ernesto Preatoni Group will invest 15 billion euros ($22 billion) in a luxury resort of hotels and holiday homes in northwest Tunisia, it was reported yesterday. The project includes a high-class tourism complex, hotels, leisure centers and ports in the northwest of Tunisia; Work will start before the end of this year and will last 12 years. So another outside investment in the tourism sector in Tunisia. Tourism obviously is one of Tunisia's biggest sources of income, and so investments in this area are always very good news; but I really wish we start seeing big investments...
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Posted on February 6, 2008 12:57 PM under:
Tunisia
Emirati Al Maabar International Investments Company recently announced its plans to build one of its biggest projects in the African Continent. This project is 'Bled El Ward' (City Of Roses) on the northern rives of the capital Tunis, in Ariana, on a total area of 5 Thousands Hectares, with a total cost that reaches $10 Billion. The project will result in the construction of a modern city made up with many components such as the International Health city, water channels in addition to tourist resorts, residencies, sport facilities, Golf fields, and areas for shopping, entertainments and open space. The project...
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Just a couple of days ago I was wondering when GPS would finally make it to Tunisia, and to my great surprise today, by accident, I came across a new website launched by Tunisia's first private mobile operator Tunisiana publicizing a new product they're launching called GPS Weenee. (Weenee in Arabic means: Where am I? or Where is it?) The product should be currently available at Tunisiana's service centers in the Grand Tunis area: Les Jardins du Lac, La Marsa (Zephyr), Ariana, Medina, Tunis-Carthage Airport. The details of the service are as follows: - Coverage: The Grand Tunis area and...
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Posted on January 11, 2008 11:22 PM under:
Tunisia
Canadian Redline Communications Group Inc., a leading provider of standards-based WiMAX and broadband wireless infrastructure products, announced that Divona Telecom, the one and only satellite and WiMAX telecom operator in Tunisia, has chosen Redline's WiMAX Forum Certified RedMAX products for its five-city WiMAX network. The US$1 million network buildout will take place in several phases over the next two years, and will connect five major cities in Tunisia, including Tunis, Nabeul, Souse, Monastir and Sfax. Divona Telecom is serving corporate clients in Tunisia, with several hundred corporations on its WiMAX network and plans to double their subscriber base every quarter...
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Posted on January 7, 2008 10:17 PM under:
Tunisia
People who know me personally or who have followed this blog for a while know that I love my good tasty fast food, and that I don't miss a chance whenever I'm abroad to head to the nearest Burger King, McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut...etc. I know a lot of it is unhealthy and that it's fattening, etc etc etc, but I just love it, despite all the lectures I've gotten about it. Unfortunately, here in Tunisia we don't have any of my favorite fast food chains, so I can only enjoy their meals when I travel abroad. Still, I do...
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Posted on December 24, 2007 01:09 PM under:
Tunisia
The New York Times recently published a list of the 53 places to go in 2008, and Tunisia ranks 3rd in their list, directly after Laos and Lisbon. Here's what they have to say: Tunisia is undergoing a Morocco-like luxury makeover. A new wave of stylish boutique hotels, often in historic town houses, has cropped up alongside this North African country's white-sand beaches and age-old medinas, drawing increasing numbers of well-heeled travelers. The Villa Didon (www.villadidon.com) in Carthage, for one, has a restaurant originally run by Alain Ducasse. Indeed, TripAdvisor ranks Jerba, a resort island off Tunisia's southern coast, as...
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Posted on December 3, 2007 07:02 PM under:
Tunisia
I think if there's any country in the world that could compete with Italy itself in the number of pizza places and pizza consumption, it'd definitely be Tunisia; There are at least two or three pizza places in every street or corner of every city. So why am I writing about yet another one? Well because this ones sell pizza that's not quite like the pizza we're used to finding everywhere. Pizza Cono, like its name actually suggests, sells pizza in the form of cones. It is pizza dough shaped into the form of an ice cream cone, and filled...
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Posted on November 29, 2007 08:08 PM under:
Tunisia
SBA Airlines is a new low cost carrier airline of Tunisia, based in Tunis. It will operates a hub and spoke network, linking several European and African international destinations. SBA airlines plans to start scheduled operations by the end of 2007 to Lagos, Nice, Manchester, Warsaw, Bremen and Amsterdam from Tunis using A320s. And when the new airport in Enfidha opens, it will eventually launch more destinations like New York, Montreal, Johannesburg, Bombay, Shanghai, St Petersburg, Nairobi, and Stockholm.. SBA Tunisia was created jointly by Tunisian Sami El Aouini, CEO, and Swedish Bejae Taylor, Chairman. The airline company has already...
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Posted on November 13, 2007 08:50 PM under:
Tunisia
I just came across this interesting bit of news about something that took place in Tunisia this past weekend on the National Tree Day... Tunisia witnessed the creation of the first African as well Arab Gene's Bank which aims at preserving biological diversity and genetic resources, boosting scientific research as well as promoting national genetic heritage. The establishment is equipped with refrigerated rooms capable of hosting 200,000 samples of genetic resources, notably seeds, tissues or pollens as well as research laboratories and scientific units specialised in collecting, conditioning, classifying and grafting tissues. [Source: allAfrica] Well that's good news; with all...
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Posted on November 12, 2007 12:43 PM under:
Tunisia
Tunisia 21, has now become the fourth Tunisian satellite TV channel, and the second public one, after its recent re-launch. The channel was originally a terrestrial tv channel called "Canal 21" (Channel 21), which was launched in the 90's; the name is a reference to the 21st century, emphasizing its target audience: youth. It started as a channel that was broadcast a few hours a day in the afternoon, on the same frequency that French channel "France 2" was terrestrially transmitted on in Tunisia, thereby over-riding the French youth programming with a local one. It wasn't really such a success...
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Posted on November 6, 2007 11:02 PM under:
Tunisia
Last week, we found ourselves with some free time on our hands and so we thought we'd go ahead and take Adam to the zoo in downtown Tunis, the one in the Le Belvedere area. He seems to like animals, so we thought it'd be really good fun. The last time I personally visited the zoo prior to last week was about 5 years ago, and it was already heart-breaking then; the images I carried on from my dear childhood memories and the magic of the place were almost all gone. But last week was even more painful: so many...
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Mezed is a new Tunisian auction site that recently surfaced into the arena of online startups in Tunisia. A number of Tunisian startups/websites have already been launched to try and push through the idea of online auctions in Tunisia, get it popular, and attempt to make some money out of it. Examples off the top of my head are sites like: MoncefBay and EchriBay. A lot of these services hang on for a while before fading away into Tunisian internet history now. The auction model just hasn't taken off and worked up to now, for one reason or another. Websites...
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Posted on November 1, 2007 11:32 PM under:
Tunisia
Some interesting news about Tunisian Tourism... An annual survey conducted by the travel website "TripAdvisor" on more than 2500 travellers from around the world, found that the island of Djerba is set to be the top holiday destination in the world in 2008. Djerba is followed by Makadi Bay, Egypt; Phangnga, Thailand; Kovalam, India; and Sabaudia, Italy. The survey also shows that beach trips are still a hit with travellers, with 64% of the people saying that they would prefer to relax by the sea than do anything else on holiday. The Island of Djerba , off the Tunisian coast...
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Good news related to Tunisian cinema... The Tunisian film "Tender is the Wolf" (Ors El Dhib) received best Arab film Award at the 11 th edition of the San Francisco Arab Film Festival. The Festival aims at featuring alternative representations of Arabs that contradict the current stereotyped pictures of Arabs frequently encountered in the American media. The film which was directed and written by Jilani Saadi, a young Tunisian film maker, is an unsettling, gritty representation of urban life, exploring issues such as the "sexualization" of women, poverty, unemployment and aimlessness. The film also received a number of distinctions at...
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Posted on October 15, 2007 12:21 PM under:
Tunisia
Rising flood waters caused by devastating rains swept across northern Tunisia, killing at least 11 people and leaving six others missing. Torrential rains fell mainly on the north of the country on Saturday, filling formerly dry river beds known as wadis and causing them to overflow in a very short period of time.. The rains and subsequent flooding blocked traffic on many roads and isolated some towns. Nine people died after their vehicles were swept away by the swelling flood waters, one person was killed outside Tunis and eight others died in the region of Sabbalat Ben Ammar, some 30...
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Posted on September 14, 2007 10:19 AM under:
Tunisia
The first International Environmental Investment Forum also dubbed "Green Ifriqiya 2007", will be held in Tunisia from November 9 to 11, 2007 at the El Kram Exhibition Hall. The event which is jointly organized by the Tunisian Ministry of the environment and sustainable development, as well as the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) with the help other regional and international organizations, will be attended by 300 Tunisian and foreign enterprises. "Green Ifriqiya" aims to stimulate new economic opportunities through green investments, as well as developing technological innovation and cooperation for environmental protection and explore new business opportunities on the African...
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Posted on September 13, 2007 03:08 PM under:
Tunisia
Zitouna FM, a new private Tunisian radio station for the Holy Koran was launched today, September 13th 2007, the first day of Ramadan, 1428 of Hegira, broadcasting its programmes non-stop, covering more than 90% of the Tunisian population. The radio station is based in Carthage, where it will be broadcasting from. Its programmes will be 80% focused on the Holy Book, with you Tunisians reciting the Koran. The other programmes will be devoted to the Sira of Prophet Mohamed, accounts of the prophets and invocations, in addition to courses in phonetics and Koran psalmody, as part of interactive programmes with...
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Posted on September 13, 2007 02:03 PM under:
Tunisia
Other than the abundance of great food and sweets, Ramadan in Tunisia is also marked by the great music festivals and cultural events that take place after the breaking of fast. One of these events is Musiqat, a mix of traditional and neo-traditional music by musicians and groups from around the world. This year's edition will be taking place from September 19th to October 6th at the Ennejma Ezzahra Palace in Sidi Bou Said. The event programme is as follows: 19/09 : Zohra Lajnaf : Tunisia : Traditional songs from Gafsa 20/09 : Halil Karaduman : Turkey : Instrumental Turkish...
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Posted on September 3, 2007 06:34 PM under:
Tunisia
Yesterday, we thought we'd go check out the Aquarium in Carthage, the Fish Museum as they call it, or "Dar El Hout" (Fish House) as it's called in Arabic. It's located in Carthage near the old Punic Ports. A number of people told me about the place before, and I was expecting a really cool aquarium, but I was somewhat let down, as it turned out to be pretty mediocre. The "Fish Museum" is divided into three parts; a Historic one giving insight into the maritime/marine history of Tunisia, Fresh water fish and salt water fish. There aren't really that...
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Posted on September 2, 2007 08:53 PM under:
Tunisia
On our way back home today, we were both a bit hungry and felt especially like having some Indian food. Being in Tunisia, the options in this area are very limited, and the only place we could think of was this new Indian restaurant called "Dumpukht" that opened in Les Berges du Lac a few months ago. The place is really nice, pretty well decorated, has Zee TV playing Indian music videos on a flat screen, and has this nice comfy feel to it. The waiters are all Tunisian, dressed in Indian clothes though, and the chef is Indian, which...
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Posted on August 29, 2007 05:58 PM under:
Tunisia
According to the numbers released by Tunisia's National Statistics Institute, Tunisia has 747 thousand rich people and only 376 thousand poor; which puts poverty at only 3.8% in Tunisia, the middle class at 80% and the percentage of the rich at 6.2%; which sounds great, but a bit unrealistic too. Taking a closer look at the numbers behind the numbers as they were released in a recent Tunisian economic review, we find the following: Rich people in Tunisia are defined as people who spend 4000 TND (US$ 3,120) or more per year, that's around 11 TND (US$ 8.58) per day....
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Posted on August 10, 2007 04:44 PM under:
Tunisia
Starting yesterday 11:30AM, the network of Tunisiana, Tunisia's only private mobile phone operator, has been having problems, even going down for hours, and with outgoing and incoming calls being impossible. The problems persist to this very moment for two whole ranges of numbers. Tunisie Telecom, the first telecom operator, also ran into similar problems yesterday, with their network rejecting calls. But things got back to normal on their side a bit quicker. Many Tunisian blogs have written about this already, and it has been covered quite enough, but well I want to talk about a whole different angle of this...
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Posted on August 5, 2007 08:26 PM under:
Tunisia
So, some interesting news between Tunisia and Jordan in the travel area... Jordan and Tunisia have concluded discussions on the issue of aviation on Sunday at the headquarters of the Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission. The discussions led to signing a MoU aims at liberalizing air transport between the two countries and direct allowing aviation companies, designated by the contracting parties, to operate any number and any kind of flights without restrictions. The two sides agreed to add Aqaba as an air route to the schedule of the bilateral air transport agreement to the Tunisian side and to add Tabarka and...
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The other day we were shopping at one of the big stores, and I went on to pick up a bottle of skimmed milk; I was just checking the expiry date and other stuff when I found a little something I'm not used to finding on Tunisian products. There was this little message informing customers that the same company also sold 0% Fat Yogurt with different flavors. This isn't a form of marketing you usually find on Tunisian products, even though I find it one of the most targeted, unobtrusive and interesting forms of advertising and marketing around because you're...
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Posted on July 11, 2007 03:18 PM under:
Tunisia
Tunisia will launch an international tender soon for a fixed-line telecoms licence. The news was published by Reuters, based on an article by Tunisian newspaper Le Quotidien. This move comes upon a recommendation by the Tunisian President to speed up preparations so as to open up Tunisia' s telecommunications sector. A team charged with this project in the telecoms ministry is preparing an international tender to select a second fixed-line phone operator, thereby ending Tunisie Telecom's monopoly. State-controlled Tunisie Telecom still holds a monopoly in fixed-line services and controls 72 percent of the mobile market. Dubai's Tecom holds a 35...
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I posted a couple of years ago about my 10 favourite dishes, from different origins, but to be honest, no matter how many countries I've been to and how many cuisines I've tried, I still think that Tunisian cuisine is the best when taken in its entirety. This is why I thought I'd share with you the list of my top 10 favourite Tunisian dishes. 1. Mloukhia: I personally worship Tunisian Mloukhia, and so do most other Tunisians. It's the greatest dish created by mankind with a magical taste and smell that enchant your senses. 2. Couscous: Our Tunisian national...
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Posted on May 29, 2007 04:20 PM under:
Tunisia
On the occasion of the International Day against Smoking on May 31, 2007 , Tunisia has launched a campaign to fight smoking. The slogan adopted this year is “No smoking in public spaces”. TV and radio ads, conferences, study days and student awareness sessions will be taking place throughout the country, coupled with graphic presentations emphasizing the high cost of this addiction. One of the major goals of this campain is to lower the percentage of all categories of smokers by 25% in the next ten years all the more so as smoking is widespread among both men and women....
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Posted on May 24, 2007 04:27 PM under:
Tunisia
E-commerce never really took off in Tunisia, and a lot of people I know think that it'll be a while before it even starts to work. There aren't that many Tunisian websites that offer possibilities to pay online, and on the other hand not that many Tunisians are willing to use these possibilities if they exist. I think it is important to try and understand why Tunisians aren't ready or willing to pay online in order for businesses to search and find solutions to making the internet into another effective sales and services channel. Some of the factors that could...
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Posted on April 23, 2007 06:17 PM under:
Tunisia
Interesting news... AIESEC, an international platform for young people to discover and develop their potential, announced that the Arab Firms project will be launched soon in Tunisia. Including the economic, international cooperation, high education ministries as well as Arab embassies in Tunisia, the project will attempt at creating possibilities of cooperation between Arab firms and offering opportunities to Arab students to get a training in one of the different countries in which AIESEC is operating (Morocco, Egypt, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan). The concept of "Arab Firms" is centered on the idea that there should be a mutual interaction between the...
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According to a post on GigaOm, FTTH Council is pushing the US government to adopt a 100 Megabit Nation policy with the goal of extending, through both private and public sector initiatives, affordable next-generation broadband (100-megabit-per-second connection) to a majority of Americans by 2010, with universal US availability by 2015. Hmmm... On the other hand, over here in Tunisia: I had to wait for over 3 months for Tunisie Telecom to give me a crappy phone line... During the first two years, my phone line worked only a quarter of the time... I've been waiting for over 7 months to...
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I miss, oh do I miss: - The 5 millime biscuits we used to eat so much of. - The Stil yogurts we used to shake, bite a hole in and drink. - The cheap granite (lemon & strawberry) ice cream. - The collectable cards (tsawer) and marbles (bees) we used to play with and collect. - The small bunny-bunny firecrackers. - The soccer matches in the middle of the neighbourhood. - The hours of watching kaaboul, baseet, sasuki and the other cartoons. - The trees we used to climb up. - The times we were almost caught for doing...
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Posted on March 9, 2007 10:53 AM under:
Tunisia
A round-up of some of the interesting news coming out of Tunisia these days... The 2007 Davos World Economic Forum Report ranks Tunisia first in Africa, second in the Arab World after Dubai, and 34th in the world in terms of tourist and travel competitiveness. The report is based on three main criteria: business environment, human and natural resources and the quality of political reforms undertaken. According to figures released February 23rd by the National Office for the Family and Population, the percentage of Tunisians over the age of 60 reached 9% last year, and it is expected to reach...
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Posted on February 21, 2007 11:00 AM under:
Tunisia
A round-up of some of the interesting news coming out of Tunisia these days... Minister of education and training has announced that all Tunisian schools will have access to ADSL and WIMAX internet connections before June 2007. A zero emission project, which is part of a Tunisian-Japanese cooperation agreement, is currently underway at the Borj Cedria technological park South of Tunis; it aims at creating photo-voltaic fields in order to generate some 260 kilowatts of energy, that can be used in several fields such as pumping of water for irrigation purposes, the recycling of used waters after treatment, the recycling...
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Posted on January 31, 2007 12:02 PM under:
Tunisia
For about three years, the Ministry of Youth and Sports has been conducting a survey of around 10,000 young people ranging in age from 15 to 25. The survey encompasses five areas of focus: youth and participation; youth, identity and the values scale; youth and development; youth and the information society; and youth and the Tunisia of tomorrow. Some of the numbers that came out of this study are very interesting: - More than 72% of respondents said they refuse to engage in politics or join political and social parties. - Only 16% said they belong to NGOs. - Only...
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Tunisian man is first Arab to be nominated for holocaust honor for risking his life to save Tunisian Jews from Nazi persecution. At the height of World War II, Khaled Abdelwahhab hid a group of Jews on his farm in a small Tunisian town, saving them from the Nazi troops occupying the North African nation. Now, Abdelwahhab has become the first Arab nominated for recognition as ''Righteous Among the Nations,'' an honor bestowed on non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews from Nazi persecution. [...] ... Abdelwahhab, the son of an aristocratic family was 32 when German troops arrived...
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Posted on January 8, 2007 06:34 PM under:
Tunisia
A round-up of some of the interesting news coming out of Tunisia these days... A new Tunisian literary prize dubbed the “Grand prix du roman tunisien” (Grand Prize of the Tunisian novel), has been created in 2006. The new prize which is awarded to a novel written in French and in Arabic went this year to Azza Filali for her novel entitled “Chroniques d'un decalage” (Chronicles of a discrepancy) and to Hassanine Ben Ammou for his historical romance, based on the life of the great Tunisian historian Ibn Khaldoun “Al Ghouroub El Khaled” (The eternal dawn). Libya and Tunisia are...
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Posted on December 26, 2006 01:21 PM under:
Tunisia
While doing my regular round of the news this morning, I came across a number of interesting news from Tunisia, so I thought I'd post a little round-up of these news, and who knows, I might start doing this regularly. Starting January 1st, 2007; Tunisian mothers, with one child or more who wish to devote time to raising a family while retaining their job, will be able to work half time for two thirds of their salary. The Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), one of Tunisia's main opposition parties, has elected a woman, Maya El Jeribi, as its leader, making her...
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Posted on October 5, 2006 09:29 PM under:
Tunisia
The team at KEN (Khadra Environmental News) have launched a web design contest for Tunisian youth who are web design amateurs or professionals with less than two years of experience. The idea is to get these web designers in touch with Tunisian NGOs in order to help them create official websites and successful online presences to promote their services and projects. The resulting websites will be evaluated by an evaluation committee (50%) and voted upon by the public (50%); the winner will receive a 500TD Award, and the first runner up a 250TD award. For more information on how to...
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Posted on September 27, 2006 05:57 PM under:
Tunisia
Tunisia has the most competitive Arab and African economy according to The Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007, published by the World Economic Forum. The rankings are drawn from a combination of publicly available hard data and the results of a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum, together with leading research institutes and business organizations. The report, which polled 11 thousand business leaders, enjoys high credibility in international business mediums and among decision-makers in the finance business. Internationally, Tunisia ranked number 30 out of 125 countries, climbing seven positions compared to last year’s ranking results; ahead of Arab countries...
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Posted on September 21, 2006 05:00 PM under:
Tunisia
Columbian pop star Shakira will be performing live in Tunisia soon; most probably this November 2006 at the Menzah stadium, where others like Michael Jackson, Sting and Mariah Carey performed before her. (Or at least that's what WebManagerCenter are reporting, based on information from a trusted source.) Personally, I think this should be a more successful and fun concert than both of Mariah's concerts put together, which more or less were a flop from what I've heard. If this turns out to be true and I'm in the mood at the time, I think I just might go; Shakira's got...
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Radio Jawhara FM, Tunisia’s second private radio station has launched its website with a live broadcast and a live webcam from its studios. The website also offers a bunch of images, fresh news and interviews; attempting to make the website more journal-like and to attract more people online; aiming to significantly expand its audience, which has been limited to the Sahel region up to now. According to the latest Mediascan statistics, Jawhara FM has managed to attract 77,6% of the larger Sousse area listeners. Well I'm always supportive of such online ventures, and there is no reason for me to...
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Posted on August 24, 2006 11:01 AM under:
Tunisia
First, a little background about LPG (Liquified petroleum gas) or GPL as it's called in French and in Tunisia: Liquified petroleum gas is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles, and increasingly replacing chlorofluorocarbons as an aerosol propellant and a refrigerant to reduce damage to the ozone layer. Varieties of LPG bought and sold include mixes that are primarily propane, mixes that are primarily butane, and mixes including both propane and butane. Propylene and butylenes are usually also present in small concentration. A powerful odorant, ethanethiol, is added so that leaks can be...
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These past days I've been seeing a lot of advertising for an animated movie called "Viva Carthago - Les Naufragés de Carthage" (Viva Carthago - The Shipwrecked Men of Carthage) which will be released on September 18th. The animated feature begins in 146 BC when the city of Carthage is destroyed by Roman legionnaires. Ten-year-old Sedik and his co-adventurers escape, boarding a ship they call Carthago, and embark on a magical journey through Mediterranean antiquity. The movie takes a more or less educative approach to telling the history of the Mediterranean region through the adventures of Sedik and his four...
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Posted on August 6, 2006 01:38 AM under:
Tunisia
After years of monopoly from the state-run TV and radio stations, Tunisia started opening up its media market just over a year ago. Mosaique FM became the first private radio station in Tunisia, followed by Hannibal TV the first private TV channel. Last year another private radio station Jawhara FM was launched in Sousse to cover the eastern coast region. It seems the media sector will get more new players soon with two new TV channels being planned as well as another radio station. Communication agency, Karoui & Karoui, are planning to launch a TV station under the name Nessma...
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Our fellow Tunisian blogger and friend Zied, who's currently stranded in Beirut, appeals to the Tunisian government to help evacuate Tunisians in Lebanon and get them home safely. All countries are currently evacuating or planning to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon, and he wishes that Tunisia would take steps to do the same too. He asks for the government to organize through the embassy and it's contacts with the neighbouring countries ways to get Tunisians out of Lebanon and onto flights back to Tunisia. His post is a cry for help, and I would like to pass on this message...
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It's that time of the year when the north coastal town of Tabarka welcomes Jazz musicians and fans from all over the world in it's famous Tabarka Jazz Festival, and everyone has started planning for the concerts they're going to attend. The schedule this year is as follows: 08/07/2006: Neilo FEEL Project (Tunisia), IVISIONARI (Italy), Stanley Clarke & George Duke (USA) 09/07/2006: Karim Ziad (Algeria/France) 11/07/2006: Tigrita project (Poland), B Connected (Switzerland) 12/07/2006: O.Loundstreman Orchestra (Russia), Randy Weston (USA) 13/07/2006: Nabil Khmir (Tunisia/Holland), Mem Shannon (USA) 14/07/2006: Tiefland (Austria), Popa Chubby (USA) 15/07/2006: Sunshine [Abdou Selim & Judy Blairè] (USA),...
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Posted on July 3, 2006 11:47 PM under:
Tunisia
It truly amazes me how many Tunisians live their whole lives in debt; I don't think there's anywhere in the world like it. A regular Tunisian does the following: - He starts off with a loan to be able to get the list of demands required for him to get married. - He takes a big loan (even double loan) from a bank to buy or build a house, that he spends over a third of his life paying for. - He takes another loan to buy a car. - If his wife is naggy, he'll have to go for...
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Posted on July 3, 2006 03:42 PM under:
Tunisia
The 14th Tunisian blogger meetup, which was organized by our friend Mochekes, was held last evening in the Platinum Café in Al Nasr. This is the only meetup that has had a 100% male turnout, mostly from the IT sector, which made it sound more like some IT user group meeting than our usual blogger meetups. All in all we were 13 bloggers: Sahha Kho, Hatem, Tom, Nostradamus, imperator, Staka, Marouen, Karim, Marouenitto, Biduile, Swifty, Mochekes and myself. The issues we talked about revolved mainly about IT, but we did go off topic to talk about other stuff as well,...
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Posted on June 27, 2006 10:30 AM under:
Tunisia
Our friend Mochekes has launched a proposition to have the next Tunisian blogger meetup this coming Sunday, July 2nd. He suggests to have it at 7PM in the Metallica Café in El Nasr. For any ideas or suggestions, head over to Mochekes' blog and leave a comment. Absolutely everyone is welcome, of course. Spread the word....
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Posted on June 19, 2006 03:12 PM under:
Tunisia
The weather is disgusting... I can't find a better suited word to describe the weather today. The heat is unbearable... It almost feels like hell's doors are wide open outside... It's near impossible to breathe; suffocating is more like what we're doing... Humidity is taking over, making you feel all yucky and sticky even if you still aren't... And what's worse is that this is just the beginning... Days like this aren't meant to be work days. I should be floating on the ice cold waters of the Mediterranean sea, on one of Bizerte's beautiful beaches, relaxing and enjoying the...
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Posted on May 16, 2006 11:44 AM under:
Tunisia
The Tunisian national team Roger Lemerre announced at a press conference in Tunis yesterday evening the list of 23 players who are to participate in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. They are as follows: Goalkeepers: Ali Boumnijel (Club Africain), Hamdi Kasraoui (Esperance Tunis), Adel Nefzi (US Monastir) Defenders: David Jemmali (Bordeaux, France), Hatem Trabelsi (Ajax, Holland), Mehdi Meriah (Etoile du Sahel), Anis Ayari (Samsunspor, Turkey), Alaeddine Yahya (Saint-Etienne, France), Radhi Jaidi (Bolton, England), Karim Hagui (Strasbourg, France), Karim Saidi (Lecce, Italy) Midfielders: Jawhar Menari (Nuremberg, Germany), Adel Chedli (Nuremberg, Germany), Mehdi Nafti (Birmingham City, England), Sofiene Melliti (Gaziantespor, Turkey),...
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Posted on May 7, 2006 09:16 PM under:
Tunisia
A breathtaking view from the Zaghouan mountains just 55Kms outside the capital Tunis. [Click on photo for larger version]...
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Posted on April 24, 2006 10:33 AM under:
Tunisia
Yesterday we had our 13th Tunisian blogger meetup in Zaghouan. All fears that this meetup would be a failure because there was one a week before disappeared when we found that we were 18 people gathered in the meeting spot in downtown Tunis. We drove to a café/restaurant at the foot of the Zaghouan mountains, right next to the historical temple of waters. Zaghouan is one of the main sources of mineral water in the country, and cold water was taken from there to Carthage by aqueduct in the roman era. The place was really nice. We set up four...
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Posted on April 19, 2006 12:12 PM under:
Tunisia
In my post about the last blogger meetup, I hinted that the long talked of Zaghouan blogger meetup would be following shortly. Well guess what, it's this upcoming Sunday; organized by our friend Karim. The program is as follows: - Meeting at 1PM in front of the Municipality on Carthage Avenue. - Drive to Zaghouan. - Lunch - Picnic in the mountains of Zaghouan As not everyone has a car, we'll all be meeting together so that we can split ourselves between the available cars and then go together. Please try to confirm your attendance by leaving a comment here,...
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Posted on April 18, 2006 03:40 PM under:
Tunisia
As some of you already know, for the past months I've been covering the Tunisian blogosphere on Global Voices Online. Global Voices Online is a non-profit global citizens’ media project, sponsored by and launched from the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at the Harvard Law School. And recently an alliance between Global Voices Online and global media company, Reuters, was announced. A growing number of bloggers around the world are part of this project as “bridge bloggers:” people who are talking about their country or region to a global audience; making Global Voices a guide to the most interesting...
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