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Global markets rattled by coronavirus
Lagos, Feb 28, 2020 - Nigeria reported the first new coronavirus case in sub-Saharan Africa on Friday, as global stock markets tanked on deepening fears of a pandemic and the World Health Organization warned against the "fatal mistake" of complacency. The virus has...
Corruption in Algeria: Prosecutor calls for two-year jail term for President’s son
The public prosecutor asked a judge in Algiers to sentence Kamel Chikhi, known as "El Bouchi" (the Butcher), to 10 years in prison and a fine of one million dinars, in an illegal real estate development case. El Bouchi became known after the authorities seized...
Algeria: The dizzying pace of the anti-corruption campaign and the clan warfare
The Algerian legal system has resumed its anti-corruption campaign with the arrest this week of several business tycoons and the launch of new investigations on former officials. The dizzying pace of the on going anti-corruption campaign is likely part of a clan...
Algerian health authorities announce first case of coronavirus
The Algerian ministry of health said the country has recorded its first case of coronavirus. The announcement was made on public television on Tuesday, 25 February. Minister of Health Abderrahmane Benbouzid said the infected person is an Italian national who arrived...
Algeria: Pro-democracy activist Fodil Boumala on trial, prosecutor wants one year’s prison term
Algiers, Feb 24, 2020 - An Algerian prosecutor is seeking a year's prison sentence for Fodil Boumala, a leading figure in the country's protest movement, an advocacy group said Monday. Boumala, a former state TV journalist who in 2011 co-founded an opposition group,...
Algerians maintain their revolt against unpopular regime
Algiers, Feb 22, 2020 - Several thousand people gathered in the Algerian capital Saturday on the first anniversary of a protest movement that seeks an overhaul of the political system and forced the former president to resign. Protesters shouted "the people want the...
Algerians wrap up full-year of rallies with pledge to continue until old regime falls
Algiers, Feb 21, 2020 - (photo: Twitter: @khaleddrareni) Algeria this weekend marks a year since the birth of an unprecedented protest movement known as "Hirak" -- one that quickly forced an ailing president from power and is now looking to maintain momentum....
Algeria: City of Bordj Bou Arreridj in the spotlight of the Hirak revolution
Bordj Bou Arreridj, Algeria, Feb 20, 2020 (By Amal Belalloufi): When a group of young people took to the streets of an Algerian industrial city a year ago, they had no idea their protest would be part of a thousands-strong movement that would topple their veteran...
Algerians brace for major anti-government rallies this weekend, police continue to repress
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the capital Algiers, on Tuesday, 18 February, during the 52nd weekly student mobilization against the regime. Thousands more of non-student protesters also joined the rallies, where they chanted slogans demanding a...
Algeria: The fall of a media provocateur and owner of a propaganda machine
Media provocateur Anis Rahmani, owner of Algeria’s Ennahar TV, was put on detention warrant by a court in Algiers as his case is being investigated. His incarceration indicates the continued clan warfare that has been pitting various regime groups against one another....
North Africa confronting tough climate change
Skoura, Morocco, Feb 14, 2020 (By Ismail Bellaouali) - Dead palm trees lie on dry, yellowish earth near an abandoned adobe house in Morocco's arid southeast, as drought threatens ancient oases. "I grew up in this oasis and I have seen it shrink," says 53-year-old...
Algeria faces economic turmoil and nothing that Tebboune is doing will fix anything
By Arezki Daoud - (13 February 2020): The Algerian government appears clueless when it comes to fixing the economy, or anything else as a matter of fact. The Tebboune presidency has no vision or clear understanding of economic matters and instead of producing a well...
Algeria: Bouteflika’s brother and notorious ex-intelligence chiefs to remain in jail
Blida, Algeria, Feb 11, 2020 - An Algerian military court on Monday upheld a 15-year prison term for the brother of former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika and two ex-intelligence chiefs convicted of conspiracy against the state, a lawyer said. The once mighty Said...
Algeria: Insurgent targets military outpost near Timiaouine, kills guard during suicide attack
An Algerian soldier was killed Sunday in a suicide car bomb attack near the Mali border, the Algerian defence ministry said in a statement. "Today at 1050 (0950 GMT) in the border area of Timiaouine, a detachment of the ANP (army) was the target... of a suicide...
Business: Coronavirus likely to force more oil production cuts
Algiers, Feb 8, 2020 - A committee appointed by the OPEC club of oil-producing countries and its allies to study the effects of coronavirus recommended additional output cuts on Saturday, Algeria's energy minister said. "The coronavirus epidemic has had a negative...
Algeria: Sonatrach CEO Kamel Chikhi dismissed, company fails to stabilize
On 5 February 2020, Sonatrach CEO Kamel Eddine Chikhi was dismissed from his position by a government decree. He was replaced by insider Tewfik Hakkar, who was Vice President for Business Development and Marketing at Sonatrach. Chikhi was appointed in November 2019,...
Algeria: The emperor has no clothes, a president with no real power
There have been troubling developments in Algeria, confirming that newly appointed president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune has no control over his presidency. The Hirak movement that has driven the disgraced former president Bouteflika out of office has always been...
Maghreb rulers feeling a bit generous this week
At least two rulers in North Africa felt a bit generous this week. In Morocco, King Mohammed issued an order to free 201 people from prison. They are all nationals of Sub-Saharan nations whose crime was to immigrate outside of their troubled countries and show up in...
Immigration: Gang arrested in Spain for illegal smuggling of migrants
Madrid, Feb 3, 2020 - Spanish police on Monday said they had arrested 26 suspected smugglers who brought more than 900 migrants to Spain last year, mostly from Algeria, charging 2,500 euros ($2,800) per person. The network, which was based in Algeria and the...
With oppression and no free speech, North Africans turn to football stadiums for politics
By Hamza Mekouar - From Casablanca to Algiers via Tunis, the chants belted out across football stadiums echo young North African fans' frustrations not connected to the highs and lows of the beautiful game. Chants of "F'bladi delmouni!" ("Oppressed in my country!") at...
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