Catching the glorious colours of the northern lights in the night sky takes planning, patience, and a dose of luck. So as part of Expedia’s Northern Lights Guide, the travel booking site has revealed its top 10 trending northern lights destinations. The best places to see Northern Lights accordingBased on annual growth of searches, the top destination expected to be the most popular for lights-chasing travellers is Lapland, Finland, which saw a staggering 370 percent growth. Expedia’s all-encompassing guide also includes the best places to stay, key times to go, and tips for getting the best northern lights photos to capture the experience. “Patience is key and experimenting with your camera settings is the secret sauce to capturing the Northern Lights,” nature photographer Dave Sandford said in the Expedia release, shared with Travel + Leisure.

Secondly, Hochstein was already in preliminary discussions on demarcating the land border before the Israel–Hamas war began on October 7, 2023. Finally, Israel, Lebanon and the US all have publicly identified UN Security Council Resolution 1701 as the framework for stabilizing the Israel–Lebanon border. To explore how the US and Lebanon can advance these negotiations, retired US Ambassador Ed Gabriel, president of the American Task Force on Lebanon (ATFL), interviewed Najib Mikati, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, via Zoom. Lebanon wants a ceasefire and long-term peace with IsraelIn the discussion, Mikati shared his peace plan, which would involve a long term pause and cessation of hostilities. This would be followed by a complete land border agreement between Israel and Lebanon and, finally, full Implementation of Resolution 1701.

Megan Schutt will miss the one-day decider after flying home to Adelaide for family reasons, with Darcie Brown taking her place in the Australia XI. South Africa are seeking an historic first ODI series win over Australia, and have a chance to level the multi-format series at six points apiece heading into next week’s one-off Test at the WACA Ground. After bowling first on Wednesday, Healy this time elected to bat first. "So tomorrow is a great opportunity to come out here and be really clinical and perform the way that we know we can. "We're still a really good cricket side, we showed it in Adelaide just how good we can be.

Red Sea crisis reflects on India Inc’s Q3 showShare This News Story:NEW DELHI : Indian companies are beginning to report early signs of the Israel-Hamas conflict’s impact on business operations, limited to those with exposures to either commodity supplies or related foreign markets. The rise in freight costs, delays in deliveries, and shrinkage in export market size, with resultant margin recovery delays, are some of the challenges faced, informed by industry executives. Capital goods and engineering companies like Bharat Electronics (BEL), TD Power Systems, and KEC International have noted some operational strain owing to Red Sea woes. Indian companies use the Red Sea route through the Suez Canal to trade with Europe, North America, North Africa, and part of West Asia. These regions accounted for 50 percent of India’s exports worth 18 trillion and 30 percent of imports worth 17 trillion in 2022-23, according to CRISIL Ratings data.

We deliver cutting edge analysis and intelligence so you can stay ahead of the news. Take it from them: I can't emphasize enough my appreciation for you and the rest of the staff at Geopolitical Futures. Kevin G. Some times the politics and journalism of the world gets in the way of clear thinking (at my own peril). Full accessto our content With any paid subscription you get full access to our entire content. U.S. allies in the Middle East are calling on Washington for more support.

The exterior of La Mamounia hotel, the main site of the 2024 edition of the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in Marrakech. Copyright Salah Bouade, courtesy of 1-54 Contemporary African Art FairGrowing internationalismCompared to Casablanca, the crowd in Marrakech is more international, says Yasmine Berrada Sounni, the co-founder of Loft Art Gallery. The African art gallerist Ed Cross, the owner of London’s Ed Cross Fine Art, was also spotted working with Space UnTokyo, a new Japan-based arts organisation focused on contemporary African art. Courtesy of 1-54 African Art FairMultiple dealers also spoke of budding cooperation with their fellow exhibitors. The good vibes carried into Thursday’s collaborative Art Night—a fair-organised, gallery weekend-style event compressed into one evening, where the city welcomed Loft Art Gallery as its newest contemporary art space.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has offered Mauritania up to €200m ($215m) in financial support over the next five years to aid the development of green hydrogen projects in the North African state. Stay ahead on hydrogen with our free newsletter Keep up with the latest developments in the international hydrogen industry with the free Accelerate Hydrogen newsletter. Mauritania only had 122MW of renewable energy installed at the 2022, according to Irena figures, but there are several 10GW-plus green hydrogen projects planned in the country that would require vast amounts of new wind and solar power. Coincidentally, German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck yesterday visited another North African state, Algeria, for talks on green hydrogen export. In November last year, Germany pledged €4bn of support for energy projects — with a focus on green hydrogen — in Africa.

They tried to blackmail Madrid into dropping its support for Morocco by cutting off their supplies of natural gas. In a press release, Spanish foreign ministry said Mr. Albares will visit Algeria February 12 at the invitation of Algerian peer Ahmed Attaf. Spain is now Morocco’s largest trading partner and the two countries have strengthened their cooperation against extremist and trafficking networks. While Algeria is supporting separatism and exporting instability, Morocco is seen a reliable partner by all African countries. The North African Kingdom is spearheading an initiative gathering all African countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean and a gas-pipeline with Nigeria.

The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has launched the Remote, Appraisal, Supervision, Monitoring, and Evaluation (RASME) initiative in Tunis to strengthen the supervision of development projects using cutting-edge processes. Mohamed El Azizi, African Development Bank Director General for North Africa, and Tarek Bouhlel, Director General of Cooperation in the Tunisian Ministry of Economy and Planning, led the launch event, attended by representatives of the public and private sectors. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB). Media Contact:External Relations and Communication Departmentmedia@afdb.orgAbout the African Development Bank Group:The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is Africa’s premier development finance institution. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF).

Analysts debate historical ties and Bawumia’s influence as an internal National Democratic Congress (NDC) strife and regional conflicts add complexity. There's more to this storyGet unlimited access to our exclusive journalism and features today. Our award-winning team of correspondents and editors report from over 54 African countries, from Cape Town to Cairo, from Abidjan to Abuja to Addis Ababa. Subscribe Nowcancel anytimeAlready a a subscriber Sign In

Frequent crashes have become a dilemma for the Algerian military with three killed in a military helicopter on Feb 7, in an accident that raises questions over the efficiency of maintenance and acquisition choices. All three military personnel on board – a colonel, a lieutenant colonel, and a sergeant – were killed, it added. The frequent airplane crashes and accidents in the Algerian air force fleet are but a tree that hides a forest of mismanagement and a lack of strategy. These accidents indicate that the Algerian military is undergoing a crisis of doctrine. Analysts see that Algerian air force is much underdeveloped with a low skill pilots lacking battlefield experience compared to its regional rival Morocco, a western ally.

An AI-powered insights company, Gro Intelligence, warns that continued drought in North Africa could push imports of key commodities like wheat even higher. The report utilizes Gro's own Drought Index, highlighting North Africa's position as the world's largest wheat importer. Wheat imports in the region already reached their highest level in seven years during 2023/24 due to drought conditions. While some recent rain improved wheat health in Tunisia, the Drought Index remains high, and soil moisture declines. Tunisia also saw rising wheat imports in 2023/24 due to production drops and depleted stocks.

Amid the escalating Western-Eastern power rivalry, specifically the West versus Russia and China, ‘swing countries’ in the region are gaining significance. Tunisia signed a 10-year Road Map for Defense Cooperation in 2020, emphasizing the importance of the US relationship in North Africa and the Mediterranean. Russia’s strategic shift towards North Africa heightened after the 2014 Crimea annexation sanctions and persisted post-2022 Ukraine war. The move underscores Russia’s concerted effort to extend its economic footprint in North Africa and consolidate ties beyond mere political affiliations. Maintaining robust Western alliances with Tunisia is key to prevent a zero-sum game where Russia would supplant U.S. and European influence in the North Africa region.

“The Nigeria of today is too bad. What we were buying at N200 before is N2,000 now… unemployment is escalating. I don’t want to go personal but the Sharia Council helped the Muslim-Muslim ticket to be successful. We campaigned and supported this government until it came to power, but we are suffering.”Thus spoke the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria, which played a key role in convincing Muslims to usher Tinubu into power.

We are very proud to announce that at the inaugural Legal 500 MENA Awards, 3VB has been named as overall Set of the Year and Tom Montagu-Smith KC as Commercial Silk of the Year 2024. Tom has been appearing in the DIFC Courts since they were established. He is ranked in Tier 1 for his commercial work in the Middle East. He is also the co-editor of DIFC Courts Practice, the leading text on DIFC law and procedure, and was consulted on the forthcoming amendments to the constitutional legislation. Tom also drafted the AIFC Court and Arbitration Rules and the Court rules and regulations for a new free-zone in the middle east.