Moroccan denied French citizenship over veiled wife

French immigration authorities have denied citizenship to a man who forces his wife to wear the full-body Islamic veil, saying it runs counter to French values and violates gender equality.

“If this man does not want to change his attitude, he has no place in our country, Prime Minister Francois Fillon tells Europe 1 radio, AFP reported. “In any case, he does not deserve French nationality.”

Algeria looks to cut flu vaccine order

Algeria wants to reduce its order of swine flu vaccines from 20 to five million doses, as cases of the virus have declined in the north African country, the health ministry told public radio Sunday.

“We communicated our concerns to the provider who understood them and we are currently in negotiations over the clauses in the contract,” the head of the swine flu center in Algeria, Fawzi Derrar, said.

Derrar added that Algeria had already received 2.5 million vaccines.

Tunisia looks for more growth

According to (TAP), Tunisian Minister of Development and International Cooperation, Mohamed Nouri Jouini, said he was optimistic about the prospects of economic growth for 2010, which stand at 4 pc despite the forecast ongoing effects of the world crisis and the vulnerability of the growth process.

Taking the floor at the Chamber of Deputies which hosted a debate over the economic growth, large scale projects, employment and local development, the Minister indicated that the relevant presidential measures taken in due time permitted to reduce the impact of the world crisis on the national economy while keeping a positive 3.1 pc growth rate.

Libya bans YouTube

Libya is banning YouTube and other Web sites used to disseminate messages against the regime

Libya’s crackdown on YouTube, independent news sites and at least seven opposition Web sites based abroad is drawing criticism from human rights organizations.

The moves, which began last month, have been labeled a “disturbing step away from press freedom” and are being condemned by bloggers and activists alike.

Sudan’s Bashir gets French praise over kidnapping

A French envoy thanked Sudan’s President Omar al-Beshir on Sunday for helping to secure the release of a Red Cross worker held by kidnappers for nearly three months.

“I came on behalf of the French authorities to thank President Beshir and the Sudanese authorities for leading efforts that led to the release of the French ICRC worker,” said Andre Parant, an adviser to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The kidnappers freed Laurent Maurice, an agronomist for the International Committee of the Red Cross, on Saturday after 89 days in captivity, first in Chad and then in Sudan’s volatile Darfur region.

Lebanon recovers Ethiopian plane’s black box

Lebanese army officials say navy commandos have retrieved the

flight recorders from an Ethiopian Airlines passenger jet that crashed off the Lebanese coast last month, killing all 90 people on board.

Officials said the so-called “black boxes” were taken to a Lebanese naval base in Beirut Sunday and will be handed over to a committee investigating the crash.

Netanyahu: Israel wants peace

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel wants peace with Syria following several days of mutual recriminations.

“Israel aspires to complete peace agreements with all of its neighbors,” the Israeli leader said at the start of Sunday’s Cabinet meeting. “We did this with Egypt and Jordan, and we aspire to achieve similar agreements with both the Palestinians and Syria.”

Netanyahu said the negotiations must be conducted “without preconditions. We do not accept the idea that Israel must always make extraordinary concessions in advance while the other side is exempt from making its own concessions. It is negotiations that will bring about an agreement, and we will not enter into negotiations when everything is known in advance.”

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