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ALGERIA
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Will Covid-19 mark the end of kissing and hugging in the Mediterranean?
May 28, 2020 (By Isabelle Ligner and Isabelle Wesselingh, photo: Anastasia Vityukova) - To greet friends and acquaintances by kissing, hugging and shaking hands is considered part of the essence of Mediterranean identity. But the coronavirus pandemic has put an abrupt...
Algeria: Diplomatic row with France over TV documentaries (video)
May 28, 2020 (By Philippe Agret with Amal Belalloufi) - A documentary about Algeria's protest movement on French TV has sparked not just another diplomatic standoff between the North African nation and its former colonial power, but anger among protesters themselves....
Algeria maintains use of chloroquine despite signs of ineffectiveness
Algiers, May 26, 2020 - Algeria will continue to use the drug hydroxychloroquine against the novel coronavirus, a member of its scientific committee said, despite the World Health Organization suspending clinical trials of such treatments. "We've treated thousands of...
Algeria: Sonatrach’s CEO under fire for conflict of interest and nepotism as company faces dismal outlook ($)
Several Algerian media have reported that Toufik Hakkar, the CEO of Sonatrach, has been spending unusually high amount of time during this month of Ramadan with a business tycoon from his hometown of Batna, Hamza Guettai. Guettai owns Petrogel, a private company...
Algeria: Blind repression and worsening freedoms in Algeria
Algiers, May 20, 2020 - Algeria has sentenced three opposition activists to jail over Facebook posts, in what rights groups said Wednesday was the latest sign of increased repression after the coronavirus lockdown stifled a popular protest movement. Soheib Debaghi was...
Algeria: The return of the Saharan cheetah to the Hoggar Mountains
Algiers, May 20, 2020 - Naturalists in Algeria have filmed a Saharan cheetah, a subspecies listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List, for the first time in a decade, the national parks authority said. The animal was spotted in the Hoggar Mountains national...
Algeria: Anger after pregnant doctor dies from Covid-19. She was denied maternity leave
Algiers, May 17, 2020 - The death of a pregnant Algerian doctor from the COVID-19 disease after she was denied maternity leave has sparked an uproar and prompted the dismissal Sunday of a hospital director. Health Minister Abderrahman Benbouzid sacked the director of...
Algeria: Despite repression, Algeria braces for resumption of anti-regime protests ($)
Algiers, May 18, 2020 - A day after his release from prison, a leading figure in Algeria's anti-government protests called Monday for the "Hirak" movement to resume after the coronavirus pandemic. "My freedom will only be complete when other detainees are released,"...
Algerian regime makes minor gesture toward Hirak, releases two rights activists
Algiers, May 18, 2020 - A leading figure in Algeria's "Hirak" anti-government protest movement has been released from jail after a court late Sunday cut his prison sentence, one of his lawyers told AFP. Abdelouahab Fersaoui, who heads the civic group Youth Action...
Algeria: Kia to suspend car assembly in Algeria
Algiers, May 15, 2020 - South Korean carmaker Kia will shut down its assembly line in Algeria from Sunday due to supply chain disruptions after authorities imposed a ban on the import of spare parts. "Work will be interrupted from May 17" at the factory in the town of...
Algeria and Morocco bickering again
Algiers, May 14, 2020 - Algeria said Thursday it had summoned Morocco's ambassador after a video circulating on social media appeared to show a Moroccan diplomat calling Algeria an "enemy" country. Relations between the North African countries have long been tense,...
Algeria: Sonatrach implicated in tainted fuel export to Lebanon
Beirut, May 13, 2020 - A Lebanese prosecutor on Wednesday pressed charges against 12 people including government officials over a delivery of suspect fuel through an Algerian oil company, state media said. The "tainted fuel" case made headlines in March when Lebanon...
Algeria: Regime launches frontal assault on pro-democracy movement
By Philippe Agret - The Algerian regime is exploiting coronavirus to defeat a protest movement that has shaken it to its core over the past year, analysts say. Despite protesters deciding to suspend their weekly gatherings since the start of the public health crisis,...
Maghreb: A Ramadan unlike no other
Algiers, May 7, 2020 (By Abdelhafid Daamache) - North Africans say they are missing the taste of Ramadan, as coronavirus restrictions deprive them of traditional mealtime gatherings, evening outings and beloved sweets during the Muslim holy month. "It's not the usual...
Algeria: Government braces for intensification of Hirak after pandemic ($)
Three separate security reports commissioned by the presidency and reviewed by President Tebboune have all warned of the pent-up anger in the population that could make the post-pandemic period an extremely dangerous era. The growing anger among the population is...
Algeria announces deeper spending cuts but says minimum wage up a bit
The Algerian government decided Sunday to reduce the state budget by half due to a financial crisis caused by the global collapse in oil prices and worldwide coronavirus lockdowns. The government has decided to reduce the budget by "50 percent" for this year,...
Algerian authorities under international pressure to stop harassing journalists ($)
April 30, 2020 - Several rights groups including Amnesty International urged Algerian authorities Thursday to free imprisoned journalist Khaled Drareni and end the "targeted harassment of independent media". Drareni, the founder of the Casbah Tribune website, is a...
WHO advises MENA region against loosening confinement measures
Cairo, April 28, 2020 - The World Health Organization warned Tuesday of the impact coronavirus could have in Middle Eastern conflict zones and urged other countries in the region against loosening confinement measures. "This fight has become even more challenging with...
Week-in-review podcast: Lockdowns, curfews and government abuse
This is a retrospect on North Africa and the Sahel region, for the week ending 24 April. The review, which focuses on the latest on Covid-19 in the Maghreb, Egypt and the Sahel, is presented by MEA Risk analyst Arezki Daoud. The transcripted text is below. You can...
The Algerian regime’s weapon against pro-democracy activists: pre-trial detentions
Algiers, April 23, 2020 -By Amal Belalloufi: Dozens of Algerians linked to the country's anti-government protest movement remain "forgotten" in pre-trial detention during the coronavirus crisis, with little or no legal support. Zinedine Hanane, 32, was arrested on...
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