FinPol Digest

 The head of the Libyan Government of National Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, yesterday said his country intends to pay its outstanding debts to Tunisia this month, in addition to unifying the border customs point between the two countries. This came during Dbeibeh's meeting in Tunis with the head of the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA), Samir Majoul, and members of the union, according to the Libyan Hakomitna platform. "The Libyan government will pay $250 million outstanding debt to Tunisia before the end of this year, and the amount is related to medical debts for Libyan patients and electricity dues," Dbeibeh said. Tunisian hospitals received wounded Libyans during the wars that Libya witnessed in the past years. Libya also linked its electrical network in the west of the country with Tunisia to compensate for the shortage of production due to the damage to the electrical transmission towers. He added: "Customs officials in Libya and Tunisia...

  Rioting broke out in Brussels on Sunday following Morocco 's victory over Belgium in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Belgian police have reported. Morocco won 2-0 in the group match. Even before the game ended, said the police, "Dozens of people, some wearing headscarves, sought to confront officers in the city center, which disturbed public security. The rioters used projectiles and sticks, and started fires on the public highway." A journalist was injured in the face by fireworks, an incident which led police to take the decision to intervene with water cannons and tear gas. About 100 police officers were involved, some of whom were also injured. The police told residents and fans to avoid certain areas of Brussels city center and closed metro stations and streets to reduce congestion. The Mayor of Belgium's capital city, Philippe Close took to Twitter to condemn "in the strongest terms the events that took place." Police officers intervened decisively, he ...

 The head of Sudan's Democratic Unionist Party, Muhammad Othman Al-Mirghani, returned to the country on Monday after spending ten years in exile living in Cairo. Thousands of his supporters welcomed him at Khartoum Airport. A spokesman for the party, Omar Khalafallah, said that Al-Mirghani's return compliments a number of files and tasks, including the Sudanese initiative launched in March to resolve the political crisis. He added that the party's vision is based on making amendments to the constitutional document signed in 2019 and producing a new constitution to restore the transitional period. The spokesman noted that Al-Mirghani has worked with the Federal Parties Unit to bridge the gaps between the federal parties and unite them. Al-Mirghani left Sudan in 2010, following disagreements within his party, and went to London, where he stayed for a short while before leaving for Cairo and settling there. He managed his party's affairs from the Egyptian capital and enter...

 The International Association of Football Federation (FIFA) on Friday announced the ban on selling alcoholic drinks in World Cup stadiums and their vicinity, stressing that the decision was made with the host country Qatar. According to FIFA's statement on its website: "Following discussions between host country authorities and FIFA , a decision has been made to focus the sale of alcoholic beverages on the FIFA Fan Festival, other fan destinations and licensed venues, removing sales points of beer from Qatar's FIFA World Cup 2022 stadium perimeters. There is no impact to the sale of Bud Zero, which will remain available at all Qatar's World Cup stadiums." The statement added: "Host country authorities and FIFA will continue to ensure that the stadiums and surrounding areas provide an enjoyable, respectful, and pleasant experience for all fans." "The tournament organizers appreciate AB InBev's understanding and continued support to our joint com...

 Israel and Bahrain agreed on Monday to seek to sign a free trade agreement between the two countries by the end of the year, Anadolu News Agency reports. This came during a meeting between Israeli Economy Minister , Orna Barbivai, and Bahraini Industry and Commerce Minister, Zayed Alzayani, in Israel, according to the Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper. Both ministers agreed to accelerate the process in order to reach the signing of a free trade agreement before the end of the year, the daily said. An Israeli delegation is expected to arrive in the Bahraini capital, Manama, in mid-November to complete the talks on the free trade deal. Alzayani's visit to Israel is the third since both countries normalized their relations in September 2020. In 2021, the trade volume between Israel and Bahrain stood at $7.5 million. In May, Israel signed a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to expand economic relations between the two countries.

 A Tunisian judicial official revealed that the Italian authorities refused to return the Tunisian child, Linda, to Tunisia. He also pointed out that the Tunisian judiciary had decided to ban her family from travelling to Italy, while a lawyer talked about the formation of a "human rights commission" to pressure the Italian authorities to return Linda to Tunisia. A week ago, Linda (4 years old) arrived alone on the Italian island of Lampedusa via a secret immigration boat, following which the Italian authorities put her in a shelter in Palermo. At the same time, the Tunisian authorities detained her family, which was unable to join the boat. Farid Ben Jeha, the spokesman of the Courts of Monastir and Mahdia, confirmed that the Italian authorities assigned a lawyer and accused him of refusing to return the child, Linda, stressing that "the representative of the protection of children will appear on Friday before the Italian judiciary to prove that the judicial authoritie...

 Egypt has voted in favor of a UN resolution condemning Russia's move to annex the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia. The resolution says that instead these regions are temporarily occupied by Russia as an act of aggression. The UN yesterday passed a resolution calling on countries not to recognize the four regions of Ukraine which Russia has claimed and demanded that Moscow reverse its "attempted illegal annexation." One hundred and forty-three member states voted in favor, five voted against, and 35 countries abstained. Russia, Syria, Belarus, Korea, and Nicaragua all voted against it whilst most countries abstaining were African states as well as China and India. Russia initially called for the 193-member body to conduct a secret ballot on the move, but the General Assembly decided it would hold a public vote. Moscow held referendums to annex the four partially occupied regions in Ukraine, but the move was denounced by Ukraine and its al...