Tag Archives: North Africa

At least 57 bodies have washed ashore after two boats sank in the Mediterranean Sea off different towns in western Libya, a coast guard officer and an aid worker have said. A survivor said there were about 80 passengers on one of the boats that set off for Europe at …

Tunisia’s powerful UGTT labour union rejected on Friday any formal dialogue over political reforms that marginalise political and social forces in the country and include “ready-made decisions”, after President Kais Saied said the general trends towards a new constitution were clear. Saied, who seized control of the government last July …

Media sources reported Tuesday morning the Libyan National Army repelled an ISIS attempt to attack the Libyan town of Ghadwa, south of the city of Sabha. Issuing a statement on Tuesday, the Libyan National Army said that its forces clashed with ISIS-affiliated elements in the Libyan town of Ghadwa, killing …

Spain says the meeting is an opportunity to open a ‘new stage’ in ties with Morocco-based on ‘mutual respect’ and ‘avoid future crises’. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is set to meet Moroccan King Mohammed VI during a two-day visit to Rabat that seeks to mark an easing of diplomatic …

Witnesses said heavy security was deployed in front of the interior ministry in the main street of the Tunisian capital, with local media saying police had thwarted an attack. “I am at the crime scene and I cannot give any details now,” a spokesman of the Interior Ministry told Reuters. …

Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said on Saturday he would not make the “first move” towards easing tensions with former colonial power France after critical comments from Paris about his country. The diplomatic spat has been fueled by a visa row and media reports that President Emmanuel Macron told descendants of …

Morocco’s liberal RNI party has won most seats in the country’s parliamentary elections followed by another liberal party, PAM, while co-ruling moderate PJD Islamists suffered a crushing defeat, preliminary results showed on Thursday. RNI, led by billionaire agriculture minister Aziz Akhannouch, took 97 of the 395-seat parliament, followed by PAM …

Libyan interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh said on Wednesday he would visit Tunisia Thursday and meet President Kais Saied after weeks of friction between the North African neighbors over security. Neither the Tunisian foreign ministry nor presidency were immediately available to confirm Dbeibeh’s visit. The two countries have been in …

The two groups decry the diplomatic rift and ask the North African rivals to resolve the conflict. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the Arab League have called for “dialogue” to resolve the diplomatic dispute between Algeria and Morocco. Algeria on Tuesday said it had cut diplomatic relations with …

Two humanitarian rescue ships pulled 394 migrants from a dangerously overcrowded wooden boat in the Mediterranean overnight on Sunday in an operation lasting about six hours, a Reuters witness said. The German and French NGO ships Sea-Watch 3 and Ocean Viking rescued the migrants in Tunisian waters 68 km (42 …

Researchers find North Africa’s oldest Stone Age hand-axe manufacturing site, dating back 1.3 million years. Archaeologists in Morocco have announced the discovery of North Africa’s oldest Stone Age hand-axe manufacturing site, dating back 1.3 million years, an international team reported on Wednesday. The find pushes back by hundreds of thousands …

Tunisia’s Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi has been infected with the coronavirus, the government said on Friday. Mechichi received a COVID-19 vaccine last month. The prime minister will cancel his meetings and continue to work remotely, the government statement added. Tunisia is seeing a significant increase in COVID-19 cases, with intensive …

Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad resigned on Thursday, opening the door for President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to name a new cabinet, state TV said.

Germany and the United Nations are bringing together representatives of Libya with powers that have interests in the country at a conference Wednesday which aims for progress toward securing elections in the North African nation and the removal of foreign fighters.

The head of Libya’s unity government on Sunday declared the main coast road across its inactive front line reopened, but eastern-based forces allowed no traffic through, underscoring unresolved divisions that threaten a fragile peace process.

The results of an Algerian parliamentary election in which fewer than a third of voters took part will be announced within a few days, the head of the voting authority said late on Saturday. The ruling establishment has tried to use elections along with a crackdown on dissent as a …

Violent protests erupted in the streets of Tunisia’s capital again on Saturday night, adding to the pressure on Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi’s government to crack down on police abuses. The clashes occurred in the Sejoumi neighborhood of Tunis and followed protests earlier in the day in the center of the …

Polls opened in Algeria on Saturday for a parliamentary election that the ruling establishment hopes will turn a page on two years of political unrest, but which many voters are expected to ignore. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has called for a high turnout, but there has been little public enthusiasm for …

Germany and the United Nations plan to host a conference on Libya this month in Berlin Germany and the United Nations plan to host a conference on Libya this month in Berlin, a gathering that aims to bring together powers with interests in the North African country and its transitional …

Algeria will impose strict health measures on passengers when it partially resumes international flights next month, the prime minister’s office said on Monday. The North African country last week said it would reopen air borders on June 1, but with only five flights a day from and to three local …