Algeria

12 Mar 2021; MEMO: Algerian President Abelmadjid Tebboune has set June 12 for early legislative elections, the presidency said on Thursday, after announcing the dissolution of the lower house of parliament last month, according to a report by Reuters.

The vote is part of political reforms promised by Tebboune following mass protests that forced his predecessor, Abelaziz Bouteflika, to resign in 2019 after two decades in power.

09 Mar 2021; MEMO: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has ratified a new electoral law that adopts an open list system for the first time in the country, Arabic Post has reported. Media sources believe that the law will come into effect in the June elections for municipal councils and the members of the People's Assembly.

ALGIERS, March 7 (NNN-Xinhua) — Seven people died and three others went missing amid floods that hit the northern region of Algeria on Saturday overnight.

According to a statement of Algerian civil protection authorities on Sunday, the heavy rain that poured over Chlef province caused the Meknes River to overflow its banks, and three cars were swept away.

Seven people, including two women and two children, were killed.

A wide scale search operation is still underway to find three other missing people, the source added.

03 Mar 2021; MEMO: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said that the country's army is "professional" and "distant from politics", adding that he considers "almost all the demands" of what he called the "genuine popular movement" have been met.

In an interview broadcast by state television, Tebboune said that the ruling system in Algeria is transparent, confirming that the army has entered a professional phase and is far from politics, according to the Anadolu Agency.

01 Mar 2021; MEMO: The Ministry of Justice in Algeria announced on Saturday that 59 prisoners of conscience have been released following a presidential pardon, the Algerian News Agency has reported. The pardon was issued to commemorate Martyrs' Day and the second anniversary of public protests organised by the popular Hirak Movement.

25 Feb 2021; MEMO: The government reshuffle in Algeria has sparked a wave of controversy in political circles due to the ambiguity accompanying it, combined with the delay of the date set by the president himself.

20 Feb 2021; MEMO: An Algerian court has sentenced to death Abdel-Malek Hamzawy, the main defendant in the murder of French mountain guide Herve Gourdel who was beheaded by extremists in Algeria in 2014.

The trial was attended by the victim's widow and members of his family.

As per the indictment, 14 people are being prosecuted in this case; eight of them are suspected of participating in the kidnapping and beheading of the victim, while six are suspected of "not reporting the crime".

15 Feb 2021; MEMO: Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, is preparing to dissolve parliament soon and call for early legislative elections, Echorouk newspaper reported a party leader and former candidate in the last presidential election saying.

13 Feb 2021; MEMO: An Algerian parliamentary delegation has withdrawn from an international conference, citing the participation of an Israeli representative, Anadolu Agency reports.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on Saturday, Ammar Moussa, one of three lawmakers representing Algeria in the meeting, said a teleconference meeting was organized by the International Parliamentary Network on Tuesday and Wednesday between representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean.

08 Feb 2021; MEMO: France's escape from acknowledging its colonial crimes will not last long, the Algerian government said Monday, Anadolu Agency reports.

"France's escape from recognising its colonial crimes in Algeria cannot last long. A criminal usually does everything possible to avoid admitting his crimes," Information Minister Ammar Belhimer said in a statement released by state-run daily El-Massa.