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Algeria’s president announces upcoming release of political prisoners, early elections
By Amal Belalloufi and Philippe Agret - Algerian President Abdelmadjid declared pardons for jailed anti-government activists and called early elections Thursday, as the crisis-hit country grapples with renewed protests on the second anniversary of a popular uprising....
Algeria: How corruption and bad governance destroy an entire industry
By Abdellah Cheballah - Shuttered assembly plants, jailed bosses, laid-off workers. Algeria's once ambitious plans to create a flagship auto industry have turned into a fiasco. The country's recent years of political turmoil have also seen its foreign joint venture...
Algeria: People of Kherrata mark second anniversary of anti-regime Hirak movement
Kherrata, Algeria, Feb 16, 2021 (AFP) - Several thousand Algerians rallied in a northern town Tuesday, almost two years since the start of the "Hirak" protests which swept former strongman Abdelaziz Bouteflika from power. Demonstrators brandished Algerian and Berber...
Algeria: Freed political prisoner alleges practice of torture
The public prosecutor at a court in Algiers ordered an inquiry Sunday after a student alleged security forces had tortured him in custody, a statement said. Walid Nekkiche was arrested on November 26, 2019, in Algiers during a march of students from the Hirak...
Algeria: High-profile trial of terror group involved in murder of French hiker postponed
A trial in Algeria over the murder of French mountaineer Herve Gourdel by jihadists in 2014 was postponed Thursday due to the prime suspect's ill health, judicial sources said. Abdelmalek Hamzaoui, an alleged jihadist, had arrived at court for the opening hearing of...
Covid-19: Algeria and Morocco start vaccination campaign
Algeria kicks off Covid-19 vaccination campaign with Sputnik V, expects first shipment of AstraZeneca vaccine Algeria on Saturday launched its coronavirus vaccination campaign starting in the northern city of Blida, the epicentre of the country's Covid-19 outbreak in...
Algeria: Court upholds long-prison terms of disgraced former Prime Ministers Ouyahia and Sellal
A court in the Algerian capital on Thursday upheld hefty prison sentences against two former prime ministers who served under ex-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, a judicial source said. The judgement confirmed sentences of 15 years for Ahmed Ouyahia and 12 years for...
Unable to govern, North African governments are using repression as their only tool in their toolbox
This week (ending 21 January 2021), Tunisia made the front pages of global media with Tunisians clashing with security forces over the past days to complain about their living conditions. The riots, which are still underway, have been taking place in several regions,...
Algeria says oil and gas exports down in double-digit rates in 2020
Algeria's oil revenues collapsed in 2020, according to energy ministry figures released Sunday, exacerbating an economic crisis in the North African country which is heavily dependent on crude income. "The overall volume of hydrocarbon exports reached 82.2 million...
Western Sahara: How Trump’s madness could undermine Morocco’s claim over the Western Sahara
By Arezki Daoud: Anger in the United States against disgraced American president Donald Trump has reached its peak. His opponents, in the millions, including an increasing number of fellow Republicans, can't wait to get rid of him and erase his legacy. Not only...
Breaking: Algeria: Terror attack in Tebessa kills five civilians
On 14 January 2020, a homemade bomb blast killed five civilians and wounded three others in eastern Algeria on Thursday, the defence ministry said, according to AFP. The attack happened at Oued Khenig-Roum near the municipality of Telidjane. . It added that a jihadist...
Turkey’s growing influence in the Maghreb, from drones to soap operas
By Hamza Mekouar: Turkey is boosting its influence across North Africa, analysts say, intervening militarily in war-torn Libya and using "soft power", trade and investment in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. While Turkish-made drones have won battles in Libya, its soap...
Algeria’s ex leaders committed more crimes with the help of Gulf donors
Former Algerian premier Ahmed Ouyahia, on trial for corruption, admitted Saturday to receiving gold bars from Gulf donors then selling them on the black market, the official APS news agency reported. Ouyahia and fellow ex-prime minister Abdelmalek Sellal are accused...
Algeria’s foreign intelligence chief fired
The head of Algeria's foreign intelligence agency General Mohamed Bouzit, known as Youcef was dismissed on Thursday, January 7. Bouzit headed the Directorate of Documentation and External Security (DDSE), an intelligence agency that provided assessment on...
Jailed Algerian pro-democracy activists in hospital amid hunger strike
Three Algerian activists awaiting trial in prison were rushed to hospital Tuesday, 10 days after they began a hunger strike protesting their detention, the CNLD prisoners' rights group said. Mohamed Tadjadit, Noureddine Khimoud and Abdelhak Ben Rahmani began their...
Algeria: Nine killed in army-insurgent clashes in Tipaza, including three soldiers
Another clash on Sunday claims life of third soldier Another soldier and two more jihadists were killed Sunday afternoon during an "anti-terror" operation in the Tipaza region of Western Algeria, the defence ministry said. The second clash in the region within 24...
Algeria: Walid Kechida gets three years in prison for political satire
A supporter of Algeria's Hirak protest movement was sentenced to three years in jail Monday for satirical social media posts mocking the government and religion, sparking condemnation from rights groups Walid Kechida, 25, was accused of insulting President Abdelmadjid...
Algeria: 20 migrants killed in new year accident near Sahara town of Tamanrasset
Twenty people were killed Thursday in Algeria when a vehicle carrying mainly African nationals overturned in the south of the country, the civil protection unit said. The crash took place near the town of Tamanrasset and 11 people were also injured, the rescue unit...
Algeria: The mysterious Madam Maya and the depth of corruption of the Bouteflika regime
Court of appeal upholds lower court's 12 year prison sentence against ex president's "secret daughter" A prominent Algerian businesswoman, allegedly an illegitimate child of ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was jailed for 12 years on corruption charges on...
Algerian president approves budget with a deficit valued at 14% of GDP
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Thursday approved a 2021 budget which foresees a deficit of around 14 percent of GDP, the presidency said, as the oil-dependent country grapples with economic woes. Algeria's economy has been clobbered by tumbling crude...
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