Widespread unrest continued to rock Algeria on Sunday (9 January) as protests continued against rising food prices despite government action to stem the riots. The Algerian cabinet agreed on Saturday to lower the custom duties and taxes on sugar and other food stuffs by 41 per cent as a temporary act to cut prices. But the measure, which will last through the end of August, did not end days of conflict in the streets between angry youth and security services.

Algeria's National Consultative Committee on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (CNCPPDH) held a conference in Algiers on 9 December on ways to implement civil rights legislation and enhance the role of women in politics. One hundred and fifty delegates, including ministers, UN agency representatives in Algiers, the two houses of parliament, members of diplomatic bodies in Algiers, along with representatives from the judicial police and national police force, took part in the conference, held to mark the 62nd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

US Army Africa Commander Major General David R. Hogg has praised the 'leading' role of Algeria in fighting terrorism in the Sahel region. Speaking at a 6 December press conference after his two-day visit to the country, the US military official lauded the 'impressive progress' that has been made. 'AFRICOM and the Algerian armed forces are co-operating, and that is the objective of the visit. We are here to discuss what we can learn from one another,' Hogg emphasised.

When the name al-Qaeda is mentioned in the Maghreb, it is often connected to kidnapping, drug trafficking or the robbing of a bank. This link between organised crime and terrorism has become so strong that some experts now claim that rather than committing crimes to finance terrorism, al-Qaeda now uses terrorism as cover for their criminal activity.

Algeria will launch a program of renewable energy development over the next 20 years, expected to increase its production of electricity from alternative sources such as solar or wind, Algerian Ennahar newspaper said on Monday. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Sunday ordered the government to present to the Council of Ministers in 2011, a 'genuine national development plan of new and renewable energy'.

Over 600 new cases of AIDS were recorded during the first nine months of 2010 in Algeria, where the disease has spread relentlessly since the outbreak began in 1985. 'According to the likeliest estimates, there are between 21,000 and 30,000 people living with the virus,' Dr Skander Abdelkader Soufi announced November 24th at an Algiers forum on HIV/AIDS.

The Algerian government has been implementing an array of pro-reading measures. In 2008, Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia issued a decree covering the import and sale of books through festivals, fairs and trade shows. Last August, the Council of Ministers decided to introduce a VAT exemption on paper for book printing.

Five people were killed on Tuesday in Algeria when a remote control bomb exploded on a construction site in the town of Tlidjen near the Algeria-Tunisia border. Security officials said the bomb had targeted public works officials who were inspecting the construction site of new homes. Those killed were three local public works officials and two entrepreneurs, AFP said.

Algeria has adopted a law which will allow private firms for the first time to lease state-owned farmland but it also imposed restrictions on foreign investment. Gulf investors have shown an interest in Algerian farmland, part of a global trend for countries with large cash reserves to try to secure food supplies by targeting farmland abroad.

On 12 May 2010, Algerian authorities effectively shut down La Maison des Syndicats (2 Rue El Oued, Bach Djarrah, Algiers), the headquarters of an important coalition of independent labor unions fighting for workers rights, including the Syndicat National Autonome des Personnels de l'Administration Publique (SNAPAP). Their website has also been shut down.

Unions representing Algeria's teachers on Sunday (February 21st) rejected a proposed pay increase and called for a general strike, prompting student and parent fears that the school year will be lost entirely. CNAPEST and UNPEF will begin a prolonged strike on February 24th to protest what they are calling an unsatisfactory offer.

Corruption scandals are piling up in Algeria, with allegations of nepotism and kickbacks connected to lucrative contracts reaching high-ranking officials. Mammoth state-run energy company Sonatrach still has more secrets to reveal. The courts confirmed on January 28th that two senior managers are being held along with two sons of the CEO, Mohamed Meziane, who himself is being probed for alleged corruption, bribery and criminal conspiracy

While still struggling with the aftermath of a decade-long Islamic insurgency, oil-rich yet impoverished Algeria is getting a makeover: a new airport, its first mall, its largest prison, 60,000 new homes, two luxury hotels and the longest continuous highway in Africa. The power behind this runaway building spree is China.

Algeria's Ministry of Education, faced with a worrisome drop-out rate, has begun fining parents who do not send their children to school.

The geopolitics of African countries such as Algeria, a country in North Africa that has traditionally enjoyed strong relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC) and whose strategic importance and regional profile have increased markedly of late, is key to grasping the dynamics that shape contemporary Sino-Algerian ties and China’s Africa strategy overall, writes Chris Zambelis.

Several heavy goods vehicle workers have been injured during a clash with riot police in the capital Algiers while holding a protest to demand better wages and benefits

Civil servants will receive a long-awaited pay rise and back wages dating from January 2008, the Algerian government announced after talks with labour leaders.

People living in a slum district of the Algerian capital have taken to the streets for a second day to protest against job and housing shortages. Residents of the Diar Echams area, frustrated over high unemployment and inadequate housing, clashed with police on Wednesday having started their protest on Monday night.

Algeria is acting to reduce the high unemployment rate that afflicts young people, with steps that include new social benefits and government funding for public sector job creation. One key step involves a monthly government payment of 6,000 dinars to unemployed people, especially youth, as part of wider efforts to tackle an unemployment rate officially estimated at 11%.

Algeria has addressed the cases of nearly 25,000 victims of terrorism through its national reconciliation programme, and many key terrorists have surrendered, leading some observers to proclaim the process a success. The 2005 Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation "has realised its objectives," said Farouk Ksentini, head of the National Commission for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights, at a special forum on Monday (September 28th).