Algeria

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Stowaway Survives 2.5-Hour Flight Hidden in Landing Gear

Man was hospitalized in serious condition after plane landed in Paris

(Newser) - A commercial aircraft that landed at Paris' Orly airport Thursday morning had a stowaway hidden in its landing gear—and he had survived the flight from Algeria to France. An airport source tells AFP (via the Guardian ) the unidentified man, who is in his 20s, "was alive but...

2 Tourists on Jet Skis Are Shot Off Coast of Algeria

Moroccan survivor says coast guard fired at them after they got lost

(Newser) - Two jet skiers from Morocco were shot to death by Algerian troops after they got lost and strayed across the nations' maritime border, reports the BBC . A survivor says he was among four men who set out while on vacation before getting lost and running out of fuel, per the...

Algeria Is Latest Country to Ban Barbie

But movie has made it to cinemas in Saudi Arabia with surprisingly few changes

(Newser) - Algeria has banned the Barbie movie for supposedly "damaging morals," though plenty of Algerians have already had the opportunity to have their morals damaged: The film was released in the North African country more than three weeks ago and 24H Algerie reports that screenings have been selling out...

Last Nation to Use Leaded Gas in Cars Calls It Quits

Move by Algeria ends an era

(Newser) - Leaded gasoline has finally reached the end of the road—the last country in the world to use it has stopped selling the highly toxic fuel. Algeria halted the sale of leaded gas last month, prompting the UN Environment Agency to declare the “official end” of its use in...

Algeria Is on Fire, and Dozens of Soldiers Are Dead

25 soldiers killed trying to rescue civilians, 17 of whom are dead so far

(Newser) - At least 25 soldiers died saving residents from wildfires ravaging mountain forests and villages east of Algeria's capital, the president announced Tuesday night as the civilian toll rose to at least 17. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune tweeted that the soldiers were “martyrs” who saved 100 people from the fires...

Olympian Refuses to Face Israeli Opponent

Fethi Nourine bowed out rather than face Tohar Butbu

(Newser) - An Algerian athlete is being sent home from the Tokyo Olympics after refusing to face an Israeli opponent. Fethi Nourine bowed out of men's judo 73K division late Thursday and told Algerian television that his support for the Palestinian people precludes him from facing Tohar Butbul. Per Reuters , Nourine...

10-Year-Old Girl Dies in Faith Healing

Algerians decry practice and media coverage

(Newser) - Algerians responded with anger online after the death of a 10-year-old girl during a faith healing. In announcing the arrest of a 28-year-old man in the case, the prosecutor said the girl apparently suffered "blows and burns," the Guardian reports. The victim "was abused during a ruqya...

After 20 Years in Power, a Resignation—and Celebrations

Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika steps down

(Newser) - A crowd of Algerians is celebrating President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's resignation after 20 years in power and weeks of mass protests, the AP reports. Several hundred people gathered in front of the central post office in downtown Algiers, the capital, on Tuesday night after his announcement. The crowd was peaceful,...

Walk or Die: Algeria Shoved 13K Migrants Into Sahara

Mass expulsions pick up in last 14 months; 'there were people who couldn't take it,' says survivor

(Newser) - Algeria has abandoned more than 13,000 people in the Sahara Desert over the past 14 months, including pregnant women and children, expelling them without food or water and forcing them to walk, at times at gunpoint, under blistering temperatures of up to 118 degrees. In Niger, where the majority...

257 Killed When Military Plane Crashes in Algeria

More than 300 emergency workers are at the scene near Algiers

(Newser) - Algeria's defense ministry says 257 people died when a military plane crashed soon after takeoff in a farm field in northern Algeria on Wednesday, per the AP . The Soviet-designed Il-76 military transport plane had departed Boufarik air base, 20 miles southwest of the capital Algiers, for a military base...

Man's Quest for 1K Likes Sends Him to Prison

Algerian man sentenced to 2 years over Facebook photo

(Newser) - A man in Algeria apparently picked a terrible way to get attention on social media—and now he'll pay for it in prison. On Monday an Algerian court sentenced the unnamed man to two years after he posted to Facebook a photo of himself dangling a baby out of...

Stunning Sight in Sahara: Snow
Stunning Sight
in Sahara: Snow

Stunning Sight in Sahara: Snow

Algerian town just got its first major snowfall in 37 years

(Newser) - Perhaps Mother Nature drank a bit too much eggnog on Monday because she delivered a blanket of snow on one of the hottest and driest spots on the planet. The town of Ain Sefra, Algeria, on the northern tip of the Sahara desert—where temperatures can reach 122 degrees—was...

20 Children Ditched by Smugglers Perish in Sahara

They were part of a group of 34 migrants

(Newser) - A group of nearly three dozen migrants, most of them kids, paid smugglers to whisk them out of Niger and Nigeria and to a new life to the north—but instead paid the ultimate price. The five men, nine women, and 20 minors were found dead Sunday in the Sahara,...

Video: ISIS-Linked Group Beheaded French Hostage

Herve Gourdel was kidnapped Sunday in Algeria

(Newser) - Algerian extremists allied with the Islamic State group have decapitated a French hostage after France ignored their demand to stop airstrikes in Iraq, according to a video released by terrorism watchdog SITE Intelligence Group. A group calling itself Jund al-Khilafah said after abducting Herve Gourdel on Sunday that he would...

Lone Survivor Found in Algerian Plane Crash

77 others killed as military plane hits mountain

(Newser) - A sole survivor is being treated for head injuries after being found in the wreckage of a plane crash that killed 77 other people in eastern Algeria. The Hercules C-130 military transport plane hit a mountain in bad weather, reports the BBC . "The plane crashed into a mountain and...

2 Gitmo Inmates Sent to Algeria Against Will

162 detainees remain

(Newser) - Two men who had been held without charge at Guantanamo Bay for more than a decade have been sent back to their native Algeria against their will as part of a renewed effort to gradually close the prison, officials say. Both prisoners had resisted being returned to their homeland because...

Desert Yields Bodies of 92 Thirst Victims

Thousands try cross-Sahara journey seeking work

(Newser) - Earlier reports suggested that about 35 people , apparently migrants seeking work, had died of thirst in a Niger desert—but the remains of more than double that number have been discovered by rescue teams, reports the AP . The 92 highly decomposed bodies appeared to have been scavenged by jackals, rescue...

Dozens Die of Thirst After Desert Stranding

5 bodies discovered following vehicle's breakdown near Sahara

(Newser) - Statements don't get much bleaker than this: "About 40 Niger people, including numerous children and women, who were attempting to emigrate to Algeria, died of thirst in mid-October." That's what the mayor of Agadez, Niger, tells the AFP , which reports that one of two vehicles carrying...

164 to Go: US Transferring 2 Gitmo Prisoners to Algeria

No details available yet about them

(Newser) - The White House plans to transfer two detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Algeria, the first movement of prisoners out since the president announced a renewed push to close the military-run detention center in Cuba. The White House said it was starting the transfers as part of Obama's goal to...

US Might Expand 'Kill List' Into North Africa

Officials debate adding Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar

(Newser) - Amid the debate about whether US drone strikes go too far, the Wall Street Journal reports that US officials are considering a "significant" expansion of the nation's targeted-killing program into northwest Africa. Specifically, the powers-that-be are debating whether to add Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar to the Pentagon's...

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