Couscous, the Berber dish beloved across northern Africa’s Maghreb region and beyond, Wednesday joined the UN list of the world’s intangible cultural heritage. The countries that submitted the listing to UNESCO — Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania — may have their differences, but their common love of the grain staple runs deep. “Couscous, present at […]
Human Rights Watch accused Egypt Thursday of imposing punitive conditions on hundreds of inmates at one of its most notorious prisons in collective punishment for a foiled September escape attempt. The New York-based watchdog said evidence including a leaked video and a smuggled letter showed authorities had deliberately exacerbated already poor conditions at Cairo’s Scorpion […]
Ten years since the intoxicating early days of Tunisia’s revolution, dreams for a better future lie crushed, and in the rural town where it began, the mood on Thursday was one of anger rather than hope. It was in Sidi Bouzid that Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit and vegetable salesman angered by police harassment, set himself […]
Eighteen fishermen including eight Sicilians who were held in Libya for more than three months have been freed, Italy’s prime minister and foreign minister said Thursday after visiting Benghazi to secure their release. “Our fishermen are free,” Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio posted on Facebook, alongside a picture of the men held for 108 days […]
Libyan Member of Parliament (MP) Omar Garmil has died in Morocco weeks after being infected with Covid-19, multiple sources said Monday. The UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and the UN mission in Libya offered their condolences without mentioning the cause or place of his death Sunday. Garmil had participated in a meeting […]
Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamist group on Monday claimed responsibility for the weekend attack on a village in neighbouring Niger that left 27 dead. More people were wounded and some reported missing in the assault on Saturday evening on Toumour in the Diffa region, said a senior local official. Witnesses and other officials confirmed the attack, […]
An ally of President Vladimir Putin has shelled out nearly $500,000 to two Russian political operatives recently freed by Libya after 18 months in captivity, his company said Monday. Russian media last week reported that Maxim Shugaley and his interpreter Samir Seifan, who were arrested in Libya in May 2019 on charges of vote meddling, […]
Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said Sunday he was recovering from the Covid-19 illness, in his first televised appearance since he was hospitalised in Germany almost two months ago. “Thanks to God… I have started on the road to recovery,” the 75-year-old said a day after the first anniversary of his election. “It may take two […]
Russia on Friday condemned US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, saying it contravened international law. Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov called the US decision “unilateral”, Russian news agencies reported, adding that “there are relevant resolutions, there is the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara.” “This is […]
