First Independent Mena Newspaper
Algeria’s three‑decade journey toward joining the World Trade Organization has become a case study in strategic hesitation and economic stagnation. The committee examining Algeria’s admission to the WTO was created in 1987 and last met in 2014. This freeze reflects not just bureaucratic complexities but also indicates how Algeria is falling behind in terms of […]
A series of US government assessments issued between 2021 and 2025 depict Algeria as an entrenched authoritarian system dominated by the military, with Washington expressing growing concern over political repression, limits on civil liberties, state-controlled economy and use of proxies involved in terrorist acts in the region. The reports come as Senator Ted Cruz introduces […]
Both presidents of Tunisia and Algeria have sided with Iran, echoing its anti-American and anti-Israeli rhetoric for decades. But once the US and Israeli strikes began, both kept silent, voicing ambiguous stands. Iran’s late president Ebrahim Raisi visited Algiers in March 2024. Tebboune publicly embraced Iran as a strategic partner, framing Palestine as the ideological […]
The European Parliament hosts for the first time a debate on the right of the Kabyle people to independence from Algerian colonialism. This high-profile political event shows the momentum that is building around the Kabylia cause on the international scene. It also deals a hard blow to the Algerian regime. The debate, scheduled for this […]
Morocco has increased its arms imports by 12% between 2016–20 and 2021–25, becoming the top arms importer in Africa, according to new data published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The North African Kingdom has been engaged in recent years in upgrading its firepower and boosting military capabilities to counter threats to its […]
Algeria is not benefiting from the sharp rise in international gas prices triggered by the conflict in the Gulf, as the country continues to sell most of its natural gas under long‑term supply contracts rather than on the spot market. While spot LNG benchmarks in Asia and Europe have soared to crisis levels, Algeria’s gas […]
An Algerian military transport aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Boufarik air base on Thursday, killing two officers and injuring four crew members, one of them critically, the Defence Ministry said. The BE 1900 aircraft went down moments after taking off from the runway while on a mission carrying a six member crew. Algeria records […]
As the US leads efforts to facilitate negotiations on the Sahara on the basis of the Moroccan autonomy plan, Algeria’s diplomatic posture is shifting in ways that reveal deeper strategic anxieties about its quest to keep the status-quo of unjust colonial borders drawn to the detriment of Morocco. Beyond the status of the Sahara territory, […]
Algeria is preparing to welcome Pope Léon XIV in April, a visit the government hopes will highlight the country’s historic ties to Christianity and its claim to the legacy of Saint Augustine. But the visit will take place at a context marked by church closures and mounting crackdown on Christian communities. Official media have intensified […]
Algeria’s reaction to the unfolding developments in Iran reignited questions over the coherence of its foreign policy, exposing familiar patterns of hesitation, selective outrage and inconsistencies that diplomats say increasingly undermine its credibility on the regional stage. The strikes, which killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top officials, targeted the regime with […]