Algerian President to Visit China Next Week

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (AFP)
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (AFP)
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Algerian President to Visit China Next Week

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (AFP)
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (AFP)

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune will visit China next week at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Algeria’s presidency has announced.

The presidency said in a brief statement on Thursday that the visit falls within the framework of boosting solid and deep-rooted relations and strengthening economic cooperation between the two friendly peoples of Algeria and China.

Tebboune's visit to China follows his trip to Russia last month, noting that the Algerian president had previously expressed his country's aspiration to join the BRICS group.

The visit was arranged last March when several technical meetings were held between Algerian and Chinese officials to prepare for the political and economic files discussed during the visit.

During his visit to China, the Algerian president aims to develop the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement signed between Algeria and Beijing in 2014, especially after the tremendous developments in bilateral relations since that period.

Last November, the two countries signed their second five-year strategic partnership plan for 2022-2026.

Since 2018, Algeria has joined the executive plan for the joint implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative and the three-year cooperation plan in key fields 2022-2024 between Algeria and China.

Algeria wants to accelerate the implementation of several vital economic projects, with Chinese funding and partnership, including the project to exploit the Gara Djebilet iron deposit in the southwestern province of Tindouf.

A Chinese consortium of three companies signed a memorandum of understanding with an Algerian state company to exploit the iron deposit.

In March, Algeria and China signed a shareholder agreement to invest $7 billion to produce 5.4 million tons of fertilizer per year in the Algerian region of Tebessa.



Canada PM Carney Condemns Israeli Blockade on Food, Says WFP Must Be Allowed to Work in Gaza

Liberal Party of Canada Leader Mark Carney delivers his speech after being announced as the winner of the party leadership at the announcement event in Ottawa, Ontario, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
Liberal Party of Canada Leader Mark Carney delivers his speech after being announced as the winner of the party leadership at the announcement event in Ottawa, Ontario, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Canada PM Carney Condemns Israeli Blockade on Food, Says WFP Must Be Allowed to Work in Gaza

Liberal Party of Canada Leader Mark Carney delivers his speech after being announced as the winner of the party leadership at the announcement event in Ottawa, Ontario, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
Liberal Party of Canada Leader Mark Carney delivers his speech after being announced as the winner of the party leadership at the announcement event in Ottawa, Ontario, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged Israel to allow the World Food Program to work in Gaza, saying food must not be used as a 'political tool', hours after the UN agency ran out of stocks due to a sustained Israeli blockade on supplies.
The WFP said on Friday it had delivered its last remaining supplies to kitchens providing hot meals in Gaza and that the facilities were expected to run out of food in the coming days, Reuters reported.
"The UN World Food Program just announced that its food stocks in Gaza have run out because of the Israeli Government's blockade — food cannot be used as a political tool," Carney said on X.
The UN agency said no humanitarian or commercial supplies had entered Gaza for more than seven weeks because all main border crossing points were closed, the longest closure the Gaza Strip had ever faced.
"Palestinian civilians must not bear the consequences of Hamas' terrorist crimes," Carney said. "The World Food Program must be allowed to resume its lifesaving work."
Israel has previously denied that Gaza is facing a hunger crisis. The military accuses the Hamas militants who run Gaza of exploiting aid, which Hamas denies, and says it must keep all supplies out to prevent the fighters from getting it.
The Gaza government media office on Friday said that famine was becoming a reality in the enclave of 2.3 million people.
Since a January ceasefire collapsed on March 18, Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,900 Palestinians, many of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced as Israel seized what it calls a buffer zone.
An attack on Israel by Hamas in October 2023 killed 1,200 people, and 251 hostages were taken to Gaza. Since then, more than 51,300 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to health officials.
"We will continue to work with our allies towards a permanent ceasefire and the immediate return of all hostages," Carney added.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow food and medicine into the Gaza Strip.
Canadians will vote to elect a new government on Monday, and polls show Carney's Liberals have a slim lead over the Conservatives.