North Africa

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has said that the country needs to slow its birth rate to avoid a catastrophe, local media reported. He said that Egypt has to lower its annual births to 400,000 from the current more than two million for the country to efficiently provide jobs and …

Floods caused by torrential rains which fell on Saturday in western Algeria left at least eight dead, according to a report from the Algerian Civil Protection published this Sunday. “In Tlemcen, the bodies of two women and two men, aged between 22 and 73, were recovered on Sunday,” Civil Protection …

Algeria has proposed a six-month transition period to civilian rule, overseen by a non-military person, as a way to end the crisis created by the coup in Niger. Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf said most of the countries he spoke with were against the use of force as a means …

King Mohammed VI of Morocco has pardoned more than 650 people convicted of various crimes, some of them terrorist-related, local media reported. The Moroccan Ministry of Justice has released the list of those who have benefited from royal pardon this year. Those pardoned include 16 people who had been convicted …

Authorities in Tunisia say at least five migrants have died and seven others are missing after their boat sank off the coast. The vessel, heading for Europe, was carrying 35 people, mostly Tunisian nationals, including women and children. Twenty-three passengers have been rescued. The boat capsized shortly after setting sail …

A Moroccan man accused of criticising the country’s king on social media has been sentenced to five years in prison local media reported, citing his lawyer. Said Boukioud was charged with “undermining the monarchy” for comments he posted on Facebook in 2020 criticising Morocco’s normalisation of ties with Israel. He …

Tunisian President Kais Saied has announced the dismissal of the country’s first female prime minister, Najla Bouden. Ms Bouden was hand-picked by President Saied to lead the government after he removed her predecessor two years ago and took control of almost all state powers. Her late-night dismissal was followed by …

The body of a Beninese woman of about 45 was discovered by French police on July 22 in a freezer in the apartment of her boyfriend, a 47-year-old Algerian. The victim had been reported missing since the evening of July 20. Alerted, what the police will discover two days later …

At least 34 people, including ten soldiers, died in violent fires that occurred in northeastern Algeria overnight from Sunday to Monday and are still ongoing, according to a new report published by the Ministry of the Interior on Monday evening. A previous report reported 15 dead and 26 injured following …

Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sissi has pardoned jailed rights activist Patrick Zaki and lawyer Mohammed al-Baqer, state media reported. The news comes a day after an emergency court found Mr Zaki guilty of “spreading false news” and sentenced him to three years in prison. The judgement, based on an article …