US Supreme Court rejects claim of sovereign immunity by Turkish bank Halkbank
The US Supreme Court rejected Wednesday the claim of sovereign immunity by a Turkish bank accused of violating Iran sanctions, in a case that has added tensions to ties between Washington and Ankara. Halkbank was hit with US criminal charges in 2019 that it took part...Turkey arrests founder of cryptocurrency exchange Thodex
Thodex, suspected of having fled Turkey with the assets of his clients, arrived in Istanbul on Thursday after his extradition from Albania and was immediately taken into custody, officials said. Fugitive businessman Faruk Fatih Ozer is suspected of having fled Turkey...
Tunisian court orders detention of leading Islamist opposition figure Ghannouchi
Tunisian opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi has been remanded in custody following his arrest earlier this week, his Ennahdha party said Thursday, denouncing his “unjust imprisonment”. Ghannouchi, 81, a former speaker of parliament, was arrested on Monday...
Morocco ups campaign to capture more migrants crossing seas
Morocco’s navy has intercepted 552 migrants attempting to reach Europe over 10 days in both the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, a military source told state media on Thursday. Morocco in northwest Africa is a transit country for many migrants trying to get...
Sahel: Chief of staff of Mali junta leader killed in ambush near Mauritania
A key figure in Mali’s ruling junta died when an official convoy came under attack in the jihadist-hit north of the country, a document from the presidency said Thursday. Oumar Traore — chief of staff of Colonel Assimi Goita, the Sahel country’s...
Podcast: South Africa today: achievements and challenges
In this podcast, Arezki Daoud of MEA Risk and of The North Africa Journal, reports on his thoughts on South Africa, after a 10-day visit in April 2023. Audio only podcast: Youtube video presentation:Several killed in conflict between herders and farmers in south of Chad
Clashes between herders and farmers in southern Chad have left at least 22 people dead, authorities said Wednesday accusing rebels based in neighbouring Central African Republic of igniting the trouble. Farmers from the Kodo community on Monday attacked Fulani herders...Fifteen Tunisian migrants missing in Mediterranean
Fifteen Tunisian migrants are missing after their boat sank in the Mediterranean during an attempt to reach Europe, authorities said Wednesday. The boat carrying 19 Tunisians sank Monday night, said a statement by Tunisia’s National Guard, which oversees the...
Sudan: As military-men fight over power, Khartoum falls into chaos
Thousands of residents on Wednesday fled Sudan’s capital, where witnesses said bodies lay in the street from fighting between the army and paramilitaries after a 24-hour truce failed to take hold. Five days of fighting in Khartoum and elsewhere in the northeast...
Sahel: Despite closing its borders, Chad sees hundreds of Sudanese soldiers flee into its territory
Around 320 Sudanese soldiers have fled the fighting raging in their country to neighbouring Chad, the country’s defence minister said Wednesday. “They arrived in our territory, were disarmed and detained” on Sunday, General Daoud Yaya Brahim told a...
Tunisia: Profile of jailed opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi
Islamist-inspired Ennahdha opposition party arrested on Monday, once towered over Tunisia’s politics but many now blame him for the country’s ills. The reputation of the 81-year-old veteran politician, once seen as a kingmaker following the 2011 Arab...
Morocco: Despite being an agricultural powerhouse, Morocco is experiencing soaring food prices
By Ismail Bellaouali: Soaring inflation in Morocco is driving up living costs and stirring public anger, and as food prices increase the country’s export-led agricultural model is coming under fire. On April 8, protesters gathered outside parliament in the...Libyan authorities are cracking down on civil society groups
Libyan authorities have imposed “severe restrictions” on local and international civil society groups, obstructing their work in the war-scarred country, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday. “Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU) and...
Tunisia arrests opposition leader Ghannouchi, shuts offices of Ennahdha party
Tunisian authorities closed the offices of Islamist-inspired opposition party Ennahdha on Tuesday, a day after arresting its leader Rached Ghannouchi, a senior party official said. [Read Ghannouchi’s profile here] “A police unit showed up at the...Algeria passes law further curbing press freedom
Algeria’s parliament on Thursday passed a law further restricting press freedom in the North African country by tightening media ownership rules and preventing journalists from protecting sources. The law bans domestic media outlets from receiving funding or...Migrations: 32 migrants perish off the coast of Tunisia
The death toll after a boat carrying sub-Saharan migrants sank off Tunisia this week rose to 32 on Friday after another eight bodies were recovered, the coastguard said. On Wednesday, the day after the sinking off the Tunisian port of Sfax, the authorities said 10...Morocco arrests 70 migrants for attempting to enter Spanish enclave
Moroccan security forces on Friday foiled an attempt by 150 sub-Saharan African migrants to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and arrested 70 people, local authorities said. The attempt to reach Ceuta comes less than a year after at least 23 people died when around...Nigerians vote again for governors
Nigeria’s ruling party has won a rerun governorship election in northern Kebbi state, the electoral commission said on Sunday, while procedural chaos led to the suspension of the vote count in another state. Voters went to the polls on Saturday to elect new...Tunisia: Football star Nizar Issaoui sets himself alight to protest police brutality
A professional footballer in Tunisia has died after setting himself alight earlier this week in what he called a protest against the “police state” ruling the country, his brother said Friday. Nizar Issaoui, 35, suffered third-degree burns from his action...Rwanda promises help to Benin in fighting terrorism
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame met Saturday with his Benin counterpart Patrice Talon, promising military support to help the country contain spillover from jihadist conflict across its northern border with Burkina Faso. West Africa coastal nations Benin, Togo,...Sahel: Crisis in Sudan forces Chad to close border
Chad’s government announced Saturday it was closing its border with Sudan after battles erupted between rival military factions in the neighbouring country. Sudan’s army carried out airstrikes against the bases of a paramilitary force, as weeks of tensions...Burkina Faso accuses French state media of “acting as communications agency” for Al-Qaeda
The military junta in Burkina Faso on Monday suspended all broadcasts by the France 24 news channel in the west African country after it interviewed the head of Al-Qaeda North Africa. Burkina Faso, which witnessed two coups last year, is battling a jihadist insurgency...Tunisia wants more help from Europe, despite worrying policies of President Saied
Tunisia on Monday called for “constructive discourse” from the European Union after a string of leaders warned the country is facing a crisis that could impact the 27-member bloc. In a statement after meeting EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni in...Egypt: Generosity brings people together in Egypt amid Ramadan’s soaring food prices
By Bahira Amin: In a time of dire economic trouble, Egyptians are holding fast to the Ramadan tradition of charity, with both donors and those in need pinning hopes on holiday generosity. Families have buckled under the weight of inflation, which hit 32.9 percent in...Morocco’s conundrum: deepening alliance with Israel’s ultra-nationalist government vs. supporting the Palestinian cause,
By Philippe Agret: Morocco is struggling to balance its alliance with Israel with support for the domestically popular Palestinian cause, an increasingly complex challenge with Israel ruled by its most right-wing government ever. The North African country normalised...Sahel: Clashes between Niger army and Boko Haram continue along border with Nigeria
Niger’s army said its troops had killed around 20 jihadists and arrested 83 others in an operation against militants on its southeastern border with Nigeria. Troops supported by air power attacked jihadists who have been using Matari forest in Nigeria as a rear...Algeria to send back ambassador to France after diplomatic row over Algerian dissident
Algeria will send its ambassador back to France soon, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said weeks after he withdrew the envoy following a diplomatic spat over a French-Algerian activist. Algiers withdrew its envoy in early February after accusing its former colonial...Tunisia: Growing concern in Washington over Tunisia’s political and economic struggles
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Wednesday that Tunisia urgently needs to reach a deal with the IMF, adding to dire EU warnings about the country’s future. “The most critical thing they can do on the economic side is actually get an IMF...
Sahel: Death toll in Mali due to insecurity was up 54% in 2022 to nearly 1,300
The number of people killed in Mali continued to increase in 2022, a UN report said Wednesday, also linking more than a third of human rights violations to security forces. The UN mission in Mali, MINUSMA, was created in 2013 to help stabilise the country as it...
Migrations: Five migrants die off the coast of Tunisia, Algeria disbands smuggling gang
Five migrants from sub-Saharan Africa drowned and another 28 were missing Wednesday after their boat capsized off Tunisia, a rights group said. “Five migrants’ bodies were recovered and five other migrants were rescued, but 28 are still missing,”...
Egypt: After condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Egypt-Russia want to “strengthen relations”
Erratum: A previous title for this article wrongly suggested that an Egyptian delegation traveled to Russia. It should have been the other way around. We apologize to our readers for the mistake, which has been corrected. /The Editor A senior Russian delegation met on...
More releases of kidnapped persons in Sahel may signal easing of conflict between West and insurgents to focus on Russian threat
Photo: AQIM’s Abu Ubaidah Youssef al-Annabi: Arezki’s opinion: It may be too early to conclude that there is an easing of tension between Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and France, in particular. But there are some tidbits of evidence that suggest...Profile: Abu Ubaidah Youssef al-Annabi
Algerian al-Qaeda member (born 7 February 1969) Yazid Mubarak (: مبارك يزيد; born 7 February 1969), better known by his Abu Ubaidah Youssef al-Annabi (: أبو عبيدة يوسف العنابي), is an Algerian militant who is the current leader of the Algerian group (AQIM), formerly...
Niger secures release of kidnapped French journalist Olivier Dubois and American aid worker Jeffery Woodke
By Camille Laffont: A French journalist and a US aid worker who had been kidnapped by jihadists in the Sahel have been released, an AFP journalist saw Monday. French freelancer Olivier Dubois and American aid worker Jeffery Woodke emerged from a plane that landed at...
Egypt: Khaled Elbalshy of banned Darb news site, elected chief of Egypt’s journalist union
Egypt’s journalist union said Saturday it had elected government critic Khaled Elbalshy as its head, amid a crackdown on the press with several reporters languishing in jail. “It’s a breath of hope,” said Lina Atalah, editor-in-chief of Mada...
Tunisia’s interior minister Taoufik Charfeddine resigns
Tunisian interior minister Taoufik Charfeddine, a close aide of President Kais Saied, announced Friday he had resigned to spend more time with his three children following the death of his wife last year. Charfeddine, 54, who had held his post since October 2021, told...
Sahel’s children are facing extreme dangers, desperately need humanitarian help
By Robin Millard: Ten million children in west Africa’s central Sahel region are now in “extreme jeopardy” and desperately need humanitarian help due to worsening violence, the United Nations warned Friday. The number of children in dire need of aid...Egypt and Turkey look for ways to mend fences
Turkey’s top diplomat will visit Egypt on Saturday as relations ease after a decade of strained ties, Cairo’s foreign ministry said. It follows a visit last month by Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry to Turkey in a show of solidarity after the...