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Algerian election results expected in days

Algerian election results expected in days

LAMINE CHIKHI and HAMID OULD AHMED 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 way to end two years of political unrest, with Algeria facing a looming economic crisis. Supporters of the "Hirak" mass protest movement said it showed the system lacked legitimacy. Two prominent journalists, Khaled Drareni and Ihsane El Kadi, and the opposition figure Karim Tabbou,…
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Tunisia’s main party holds huge rally as government row grows

Tunisia’s main party holds huge rally as government row grows

TAREK AMARA TUNISIA'S biggest political party assembled an immense crowd of supporters in the capital on Saturday in a show of strength that could fuel a dispute between the president and the prime minister. In one of the biggest demonstrations since Tunisia's 2011 revolution, tens of thousands of Ennahda supporters marched through central Tunis chanting "The people want to protect institutions!" and "The people want national unity!". The dispute has played out against a grim backdrop of economic anxiety, disillusionment with democracy and competing reform demands from foreign lenders and the UGTT, the powerful main labour union, as debt repayments…
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Thousands protest in Algeria

Thousands protest in Algeria

THOUSANDS of people demonstrated yesterday in the Algerian town of Kherrata to voice support for the Hirak protest movement that ousted Algeria's veteran president in 2019 before the COVID-19 crisis forced it off the streets last year. More than 5,000 protesters chanted: "A civilian state, not a military state" and "The gang must go" as they waved Algerian flags. Tuesday's protest was held to mark the second anniversary of the start of demonstrations in 2019, which began in Kherrata, east of the capital Algiers, before spreading across the country. "We came to revive the Hirak that was stopped for health…
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Polish abortion ban seen triggering wider retreat on women’s rights

Polish abortion ban seen triggering wider retreat on women’s rights

SOPHIE DAVIES  POLAND’S decision to ban most abortions in the face of mass protest is emboldening like-minded neighbours, campaigners say, predicting a retreat on women's rights across eastern Europe. The October 22 ruling outlaws any termination due to foetal defects, ending one of the few remaining grounds for a legal abortion in Poland and sparking two weeks of demonstrations. It has also stirred interest among like-minded neighbours of largely Catholic, conservative Poland, campaigners say, voicing fears of a knock-on effect for millions of women in Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Belarus and Romania. "Behind these latest moves, lies a profound contempt for…
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