Mauritania

The first ever summit of leaders of the European Union and the League of Arab States took place, held two days in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The number of Turkish fishing boats off the northwest African coast of Mauritania has risen to 33, up from just two last year, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Aug. 23. 

The fisherman have been giving their catch to factories established by Turkish entrepreneurs in Mauritania to be turned into fish flour, which is then sent to Turkey.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that the future of Libya, and the stability of the whole Sahel region, is at stake as it faces the "terrifying threat" of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

But he warned international powers not to "stoke the fires of conflict" in the country.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has appointed four women to top positions in the 47-year-old organization with the aim of bolstering the pan-Islamic group's social role.

A UN envoy called for an extension of a humanitarian ceasefire in Yemen due to expire on May 17 as the Huthi Shiite rebels boycotted political talks in Riyadh.

Forced to pick cotton, grow cannabis, prostitute themselves, fight wars or clean up after the wealthy, some 35.8 million people are currently trapped in modern-day slavery, a new report said Nov. 17.