Turkey: Prez Erdogan attacks women for celebrating Women’s Day
Ankara, March 10, 2019 – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday accused International Women’s Day protesters of being led by political rivals and of “disrespect” during the Islamic call to prayer, after Friday’s march was broken...
Nigeria: Election violence forces vote suspension in Rivers state
Port Harcourt, Nigeria, March 10, 2019 – By Joel Olatunde Agoi – Nigeria’s election authorities announced the suspension of activities in volatile opposition-held Rivers State on Sunday citing violence and threats to its staff, as tensions rise in...People profile: Algeria’s Ali Haddah
Algerian businessman Ali Haddad, : علي حداد (born 27 January 1965 in ) is an Algerian Businessman. He is the co-founder and CEO of ETRHB (Entreprise des Travaux Routiers, Hydrauliques et Bâtiments; Road, Hydraulic and Building Works Company in English), and has been...
Morocco: Suspected Moroccan Jihadis back home, likely to face tough justice
Rabat, March 10, 2019 – Morocco said Sunday it had repatriated eight of its nationals from Syria, who will be investigated for “suspected involvement in acts linked to terrorism”. “The competent Moroccan authorities proceeded on March 10 to...Organization: UGTA Labor Union
Main Algerian trade union The General Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA; : الإتحاد العام للعمال الجزائريين, : al-Ittiḥād al-ʿĀm lil-ʿUmmāl al-Ǧazāʾiriyyīn, : Union Générale des Travailleurs Algériens) is the main Algerian , established February 24, 1956 with the...People profile: Algeria’s Ramtane Lamamra
Algerian politician and diplomat Ramtane Lamamra (: رمطان لعمامرة; born 15 June 1952) is an Algerian diplomat who was ' Personal Envoy for Sudan from 2023 to 2026. Lamamra previously served as the 's from 2008 to 2013 and from 2013 to 2017 and briefly in March 2019....People profile: Algeria’s Lakhdar Brahimi
Algerian United Nations diplomat (born 1934) Lakhdar Brahimi ( pronunciation: ; : الأخضر الإبراهيمي; al-Akhḍar al-Ibrāhīmi; born 1 January 1934) is an Algerian United Nations diplomat who served as the and Special Envoy to until 14 May 2014. He was of from 1991 to...
Egypt: General Sisi names another general to clean up public transport mess
Cairo, March 10, 2019 – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday tapped a senior military officer for the post of transport minister after a recent train crash at Cairo’s central station killed 22 people. Speaking at a military gathering,...
Egypt’s Sisi frightened by Algerian protests, warns his people to not dare
Cairo, March 10, 2019 – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned Sunday against the dangers of protesting, in the wake of widespread demonstrations in Algeria and neighbouring Sudan. Sisi, who regularly evokes political stability to draw foreign...
Franco-Algerians protest against Bouteflika
Paris, March 10, 2019 – Thousands of Algerian-origin protesters demonstrated in Paris and other cities around France on Sunday against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, calling on him not to seek another term in office. Several thousand gathered for the second...
Egyptian government likely using cyber-attacks against activists
March 6, 2019 – Amnesty International warned Wednesday that dozens of rights activists in Egypt have been put in “grave danger” by email phishing attacks that it says appear to be government orchestrated. “Dozens of Egyptian human rights...
Sahe: Terror attacks on the rise in Mali, says UN
March 5, 2019 (AFP) – Security is worsening in Mali with terror attacks on the rise, targeting UN peacekeepers, Malian troops, international forces and civilians, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned in a report on Tuesday. The threat from extremist...
Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid released
Cairo, March 4, 2019 – Award-winning Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid was released on Monday after spending nearly six years in prison following his arrest while covering a bloody crackdown on protests. The photographer, widely known as Shawkan, faces...
Sahel: Tension on Libya-Chad border mounts with killing of Chadian deserters
March 4, 2019 – Deserters from a Chadian rebel group based in Libya were ambushed at the border of the two countries leaving seven people dead, their group said Monday. The attack happened on Saturday at Sossal on the Chadian border where the deserters were...
Algeria: Court releases blogger Merzoug Touati
Algiers, March 4, 2019 (AFP) – An Algerian court ordered a blogger released on time served Monday after finding him guilty of colluding with a foreign power at a retrial, his lawyer said. Merzoug Touati, 30, has been through a roller-coaster legal process since...
Algeria: TV presenter Nadia Madassi resigns after forced to read Bouteflika letter
Algiers, March 4, 2019 (AFP) – An Algerian state television presenter resigned Monday because she was angry that she had to broadcast parts of a letter by ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, one of her colleagues said. Nadia Madassi, presenter of Canal...
Libya: NOC takes control of al-Sharara oil field, set to resume production
Tripoli, March 4, 2019 – One of Libya’s most important oil fields is set to reopen nearly three months after it was taken over by an armed group, the state-owned National Oil Corporation said Monday. Production at the Al-Sharara site in southern Libya...
Algeria: Regime insists on fifth term, people push against
Algiers, March 4, 2019 – Algerians on Monday dismissed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s promise to quit early if re-elected for a fifth time and said they were ready for new protests seeking his resignation. The ailing leader, who suffered a stroke in...
Algeria says candidate with former French citizenship ineligible to run for president
Algiers, March 4, 2019 – When an Algerian businessman was ruled ineligible to stand in April’s presidential election, his cousin and namesake stepped forward to take his place. In recent weeks Rachid Nekkaz has travelled around Algeria to gather the...
Mali: Fulani insurgent leader Amadou Koufa still alive after France announced his killing
March 1, 2019 – Malian and French authorities were verifying the authenticity of a video on Friday that appeared to show one of the West African country’s top jihadist leaders alive — three months after his death was announced. Officials in both...
Sahel: More soldiers killed in landmine blast in Mopti, Mali
March 1, 2019 – Nine soldiers in the five-nation G5 Sahel anti-jihadist force were killed in central Mali on Friday when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device, the Malian army said. The incident happened at Boulkessy, in the Mopti region, it said on...
Sahel: Bacteria infection kills thousands of donkeys in Niger
Niamey, March 1, 2019 – A contagious bacterial infection known as “equine strep throat” has killed more than 4,000 donkeys in northern Niger since early December, local officials said Friday. “Of the 8,392 donkeys affected by equine distemper...
Algeria: Anti-regime protests intensify, as hundreds of thousands of people return to the street to oppose status quo
Update2: Algiers, March 1, 2019 – Several people were hurt Friday in violent clashes between police and protesters in the Algerian capital, AFP journalists said, during demonstrations against a bid by ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to seek a fifth term....
Sahel: Expect more Danish soldiers in the Sahel
Copenhagen, Feb 28, 2019 – Denmark announced Thursday that it plans to send materiel and some troops to Africa to help support the French operation combatting jihadist groups in the Sahel. The government’s plans, which must be approved by parliament,...
Algeria police arrest dozen journalists who were protesting against censorship
Algiers, Feb 28, 2019 – Algerian police arrested Thursday a dozen journalists protesting “censorship” of coverage of demonstrations against a fifth term for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, as the prime minister compared the rallies to those that...
Algeria’s dangerous political gridlock
Algiers, Feb 28, 2019 – By Amal Belalloufi and Aymeric Vincenot: Mounting frustration at their ailing president’s bid for a fifth term has brought protestors to the streets in Algeria, where Abdelaziz Bouteflika is the regime’s candidate for April...
Public health: Outbreak of tropical parasite in Libya
Tripoli, Feb 27, 2019 – At least 5,000 cases of a potentially deadly tropical disease have been registered in Libya in the past six months, the country’s health ministry said Wednesday. Leishmaniasis, which is caused by a microscopic parasite spread by...
Morocco: Journalist Bouachrine sentenced to 12 years in prison over bogus charges
Rabat, Feb 26, 2019 – Amnesty International urged Morocco on Tuesday to “immediately” free a newspaper publisher sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of rape and other offences, after a trial his lawyers say was politically motivated. “We...
Sahel: Unrest in Mali intensifies, scores killed by booby-trapped corpse near Mopti
Feb 27, 2019 – Seventeen civilians were killed and 15 were wounded in a blast caused by a booby-trapped corpse in central Mali, security sources and a local official said on Wednesday. The incident occurred on Tuesday in Diankabou, a small town about 150...
Egypt: Train crash in Cairo kills 20 as Egypt struggles with crumbling infrastructure
Cairo, Feb 27, 2019 – A hurtling locomotive crashed, derailed and caught fire at Cairo’s main train station on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people in the latest disaster to strike Egypt’s rundown railways. The country’s transportation...Luxembourg Prime Minister is right: Arab and European leaders believe in “Father Christmas”
Opinion by Arezki Daoud – 25 February 2019: Leaders and representatives of some 40 Arab and European countries met in Sharm el-Sheikh this past weekend to discuss ways to secure the Mediterranean region and deal with issues of human migration, development and...
Mali: French forces say they hit alleged Jihadis in Mopti
Paris, Feb 25, 2019 – French warplanes struck a group of jihadists in central Mali over the weekend, killing or wounding 15 of them, the defence ministry in Paris said Monday. The raid — the second in 48 hours — took place north of Mopti on Saturday...
Algeria: With Bouteflika assured to win, his Prime Minister tells protesters the “ballot box will decide”
Algiers, Feb 25, 2019 – Algeria’s prime minister on Monday insisted voters would determine if ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika gets a fifth term at the ballot box, after major protests against his candidacy. Tens of thousands of people on Friday took...
Sahel: Growing concern over impact of climate change on the Sahel
Niamey, Feb 25, 2019 – Leaders of 17 countries on the rim of the Sahel began talks on Monday on a nearly $400-billion plan to help the fragile region cope with climate change. The 2018-30 scheme, covering countries ranging from Mauritania to the Horn of Africa,...
Burkina Faso: Army kills dozens of alleged insurgents
Feb 24, 2019 – Burkina Faso’s armed forces killed around 30 suspected militants last week in an land and air operation against jihadist groups operating in the east of the country, the military said on Sunday. Burkina Faso, part of a joint French-led...
Egypt: Canadian national held in custody in Egypt on unknown charges
Feb 24, 2019 – A Canadian citizen has been arrested in Egypt, his family has told public news network CBC, asking that Ottawa secure his release. Yasser Ahmed Albaz, a 51-year-old engineer who was in Egypt on business, was stopped and questioned as he was about...