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ALGERIA
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Morocco and Algeria turn to Russia and China for a Covid-19 vaccine
North African governments are once again relying on foreign sources to help them deal with their crises. After recognizing that their focus on the hydroxychloroquine, supplied by foreign sources, was the wrong approach and led to nowhere, they are now turning their...
Algerians called to vote again in November
Algiers, Aug 24, 2020 - Algeria will hold a promised referendum on a revised constitution on November 1, the office of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced on Monday evening. After "consultations with the parties concerned, it was decided to set the date of 1...
Algeria’s repressive courts sentence journalist Abdelkrim Zeghileche to prison on bogus charges
Algiers, Aug 24, 2020 - An Algerian journalist was sentenced Monday to two years in prison, his lawyer told AFP, in the latest trial of media and pro-democracy figures in the North African country. Abdelkrim Zeghileche, head of a web-based independent radio station,...
As Algeria-EU trade deal approaches, Algerian officials want new terms
Algiers, Aug 23, 2020 - Days ahead of a final deadline, activation of a long-planned Algeria-EU trade deal risks unravelling as political and business leaders in the North African country warn it will undermine economic sovereignty. The deal is meant to come into...
Opec reports members’ conformity to lower production, signals market improvements
Opec ministers stuck to an agreement to lower oil production at a monthly meeting Wednesday, underlining that only strict compliance could restore stability to prices undermined by the coronavirus pandemic. Ahead of a virtual meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers,...
Algeria: Birthplace of the Hirak movement, Kherrata experiences first post-confinement rally
We may have missed this story and reported as a minor event, and in fact, no national newspapers reported it, but thousands of people came out to demonstrate against the Algerian regime on Saturday, 15 August in Kherrata, 60 km east of Bejaia, in what was the first...
Algeria: Supporters of jailed journalist Drareni launch international appeal
Algiers, Aug 12, 2020 - Supporters of jailed Algerian journalist Khaled Drareni launched an appeal on Wednesday for international pressure to secure the release of someone who has become a symbol of press freedom in the North African nation. "We are launching an...
Algeria’s outrageous justice system: jails some, releases others for the same offenses: signs of unstable regime
Algiers, Aug 11, 2020 - Supporters of jailed Algerian journalist Khaled Drareni on Tuesday demanded his release in an online petition calling his three-year jail term "the heaviest" handed down to a reporter since independence. The case is seen as a test of press...
Algeria: With a bankrupt economy and poor governance, Algeria wants to revisit its trade agreement with EU
Algiers, Aug 10, 2020 - Algeria's president has requested the country's trade minister reassess a deal with the European Union, ahead of a free trade agreement due to come into effect on September 1. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune asked Kamel Rezig to "carry out an...
Algeria: Journalist Drareni and activists Hirak Benlarbi and Hamitouche sentenced to prison by Algerian regime
Algiers, Aug 10, 2020 - Algerian journalist Khaled Drareni received a three-year prison term Monday in a trial rights groups have called a test of press freedom in a country recently rocked by anti-government protests. "It's a very heavy verdict for Khaled Drareni. We...
Algeria: Currency depreciation, inflation, recession, and the pandemic: an economy in turmoil
Algiers, Aug 9, 2020 - [Photo: Algerian retirees queuing to withdraw their pensions during a cash crunch in July 2020] Currency depreciation, inflation, negative growth, businesses closed: Algeria's economy has been battered by the one-two punch of the coronavirus...
Algeria military establishment continues to undergo leadership purge
On Tuesday, 4 August, Algerian President Tebboune officially dismissed General Abderrahmane Arrar, the head of the National Gendarmerie paramilitary unit, in a long-awaited move that saw the appointment of General Nouredine Gouasmia as his replacement. As former...
Algeria: Thousands of hectares of forests in Algeria ravaged by fire
Algeria's president on Sunday ordered an "immediate" investigation into forest fires that have ravaged thousands of hectares across the country in recent days, his office said. The enquiry aims to "determine the causes of fires that have ravaged vast stretches of...
Algeria: Reporters Without Borders calls for Algeria to release journalist Khaled Drareni
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), fellow journalists and rights groups called Thursday for Algerian authorities to release detained journalist Khaled Drareni. The head of the Casbah Tribune website and correspondent for RSF and French-language television...
Generalized repression in the Arab world
Repressive Arab regimes are taking advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to crack down on the opposition, freedom of speech, independent media, and anything they consider a threat to their control of power. Almost no country in the region is spared by the other virus,...
Algeria: President Tebboune fires minister over unreported real estate purchases
North Africa Journal: On 29 July 2020, President Tebboune dismissed the Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Security, Ahmed Chawki Fouad Acheuk Youcef. The presidency did not provide the reasons for the decision in its communique. However, sources said...
Europe reinstates restrictions on entry of Algerian travelers over spreading virus
Brussels, July 29, 2020 - The EU is to reimpose travel restrictions on Algeria, diplomats said Wednesday, after a resurgence of coronavirus in the north African state. Governments have restricted inbound travel from outside the EU in order to slow the spread of the...
More than 143,000 cumulative Covid-19 infections in North Africa, at least 6,000 deaths so far, Egypt worst hit
The cumulative confirmed infections of Covid-19 in the North African countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt reached 143,258 over the weekend ending 26 July 2020. The combined death toll since the outbreak of the pandemic reached 6,144. Egypt, which...
Algeria: Former minister Moussa Benhamadi dies of Covid-19 while in prison
Algiers, July 18, 2020 - A former Algerian cabinet minister detained in a corruption case has died from the COVID-19 illness, his brother said Saturday. Ex-telecom minister Moussa Benhamadi, 67, who was close to ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, contracted the...
Algeria: The economic cost of the Covid-19 epidemic in Algeria
Algiers, July 18, 2020- Algeria said Saturday that the coronavirus crisis on top of falling oil prices have caused unprecedented damage to its economy, including over $1 billion in losses in the public sector alone. "Algeria is facing an unprecedented difficult...
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