North Africa

ONENEWSNOW - After pushing countries on the continent for years to accept migrants in the midst of the refugee crisis, the leftist European Union (EU) is finally committed to curb immigration and the problems that come with it by pushing to start screening centers in Africa to decrease sea crossings.

CAIRO - Mohamed "Ibn Nufal" Nufal, 24, kisses his mother goodbye in Cairo's Tahrir Square as he sets off for the World Cup in Russia - on a bicycle.

After about 5,000 km and 65 days on the road, Nufal hopes to reach Moscow to see Egypt make its first appearance in the World Cup for 28 years.

ALGIERS (Reuters) - More than 100 people were killed when an Algerian military plane crashed into a field outside the capital on Wednesday, local media reported.

Television footage showed crowds gathering around the smoking and flaming wreckage near Boufarik airport southwest of Algiers.

125 migrants have been rescued from drowning off the coast of Libya, the world's agencies said. It happened about 120 km west of Tripoli. They traveled illegally to Europe when the Libyan navy fleet received a message saying that their ship is being disturbed. A European non-governmental organization was also involved in the operation.

A co-operation programme in the field of vocational training between the Romanian and Algerian ministries of education has been signed in Algiers in the presence of Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu, on an official visit to Algeria.

Sudan and Qatar will sign a $4 billion agreement to jointly develop the Red Sea port of Suakin off Sudan's coast, Sudanese media quoted Transport Minister Makawi Mohamed Awad as saying.
Awad made the announcement during a visit by Qatari officials to Suakin on March 25, the reports said.

One of the reasons why the Arab Spring succeeded in Tunisia was the fact that the country has strong similarities with Turkey, rather than the rest of the Arab world, according to Safwan Masri, Executive Vice President for Global Centers and Global Development at Columbia University. 

Twenty-one migrants were missing and probably drowned after a rubber dinghy and a wooden boat set off from Libya for Italy and had to be rescued, the International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday, quoted by Reuters. 

Turkey and Libya should find a common ground to enhance their bilateral relations and to shape up their future plans, Turkey’s economy minister said on Feb. 24.

The bodies of at least 20 people have been pulled from the sea off the coast of Melilla, a small Spanish territory bordering Morocco, reported BBC. 

Moroccan rescue services recovered the corpses after the crew of a passenger ship spotted them in the water.

The dead are believed to be migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.