Shield and Alert: Maghreb Bound

A nationwide freight transport strike in Algeria is disrupting food supply chains and driving sharp price increases across local markets. Reduced truck movements have slowed deliveries to wholesale distribution hubs, limiting the availability of fruits and vegetables and placing pressure on household budgets. Key agricultural and commercial regions are reporting thinning stocks, while retailers warn that prolonged disruption could exhaust remaining supplies. The situation highlights structural vulnerabilities in logistics networks and the direct link between transport continuity, food availability, and price stability.

Irregular migration to Spain declined significantly in 2025 following a record year in 2024, according to official figures. The drop was driven primarily by a sharp reduction in sea crossings to the Canary Islands, long one of Europe’s most dangerous migration routes. Enhanced maritime surveillance and expanded cooperation between Spain, the European Union, and key departure countries in West and North Africa played a central role in reducing Atlantic crossings. At the same time, arrivals to Spain did not disappear but shifted geographically, with increased landings reported in the Balearic Islands via the western Mediterranean. The figures highlight how enforcement measures can reshape migration patterns while leaving underlying pressures and humanitarian risks largely unchanged.

The US military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is being closely watched across Africa, not as a regional Latin American event, but as part of a broader pattern of great-power behavior toward the Global South. African institutions, governments, and analysts are reading the raid alongside long-standing grievances over external intervention, from France’s contested role in the Sahel to Russia’s expanding security footprint and the growing presence of other outside actors. While few African voices defend Maduro’s record, many express concern that the seizure of a sitting president without multilateral authorization reinforces a system where sovereignty and international law apply unevenly. The episode has intensified debates across the continent about precedent, deterrence, and vulnerability, particularly for resource-rich and non-aligned states, and has revived fears that hierarchy, rather than rules, still shapes how power is exercised in international affairs.

Turkey’s parliament has approved a 24-month extension of its military deployment in Libya through early 2028, marking a shift from emergency intervention to formalized long-term strategic positioning. The extension reflects calculated power projection rather than crisis response, with Turkey consolidating assets at Al-Watiya airbase to secure leverage across Eastern Mediterranean maritime disputes, energy corridors, and regional competition dynamics. The mandate complicates the stalled 5+5 withdrawal process by providing diplomatic cover for other foreign actors to maintain their presence, creating a reinforcing cycle where each deployment justifies the others and transforms temporary stabilization into indefinite strategic competition by proxy.