Wildfires Break Out in Eastern Algeria

Civil Defense teams try to put out fires in Jijel last summer. (Civil Defense)
Civil Defense teams try to put out fires in Jijel last summer. (Civil Defense)
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Wildfires Break Out in Eastern Algeria

Civil Defense teams try to put out fires in Jijel last summer. (Civil Defense)
Civil Defense teams try to put out fires in Jijel last summer. (Civil Defense)

Several wildfires have broken out in Algeria's northeastern Bejaia and Tizi-Ouzou provinces.

While the fires in Tizi Ouzou were extinguished, the operations are ongoing to control the fire in Bejaia, according to a statement from the Civil Protection on Saturday.

The Civil Protection in Bejaia said a fire had broken out in one of the forests in the Ish El-Baz area in Boulimat.

Teams from Bouira, Setif, and Bordj Bou Arreridj were dispatched to the area. No losses in life were recorded. Populated areas were also evacuated.

Moreover, a fire broke out in Mahwi Forest Tichy in the Ish El-Baz forest in Bejaia, and in the forest of the Igdassen village in Tizi Ouzou.

Civil Protection units and helicopters were dispatched to extinguish the fire.

In July, wildfires in the country killed at least 34 people and destroyed large swathes of forests and trees.

Northern and eastern Algeria witness forest fires annually, a phenomenon that worsens year after year due to the impact of climate changes.

The Meteorological Service warned in a special bulletin of a heat wave in the country's northeastern regions, including Bejaia and Tizi Ouzou, on Saturday and Sunday, with temperatures expected to reach 43 degrees.

This year, Algeria recorded 97 blazes across 16 provinces, fanned by strong winds, said the interior ministry.



Syria’s Al-Sharaa Hosts Ukraine’s Foreign Minister

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa looks on as he meets with senior Ukrainian delegation led by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 30, 2024. (Reuters)
Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa looks on as he meets with senior Ukrainian delegation led by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 30, 2024. (Reuters)
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Hosts Ukraine’s Foreign Minister

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa looks on as he meets with senior Ukrainian delegation led by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 30, 2024. (Reuters)
Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa looks on as he meets with senior Ukrainian delegation led by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 30, 2024. (Reuters)

Syria's de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa held talks on Monday with a senior Ukrainian delegation led by Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, the Syrian state news agency (SANA) reported, as Kyiv moves to build ties with the new leadership in Damascus.

SANA provided no immediate details about their talks, held in Damascus, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said last Friday his country had sent its first batch of food aid to Syria, which is traditionally a close ally of Russia.

Zelenskiy said that 500 metric tons of wheat flour were already on their way to Syria as part of Kyiv's humanitarian "Grain from Ukraine" initiative in cooperation with the United Nations World Food Program.

Ukraine, a global producer and exporter of grain and oilseeds, has said it wants to restore relations with Syria following the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad and his flight into exile in Russia.

Ukraine, which has been battling invading Russian forces for nearly three years, traditionally exports wheat and corn to countries in the Middle East, but not to Syria, which in the Assad era imported food from Russia.

Russian wheat supplies to Syria have been suspended because of uncertainty about the new government in Damascus and payment delays, Russian and Syrian sources told Reuters in early December.

Russia had supplied wheat to Syria using complex financial and logistical arrangements to circumvent Western sanctions imposed on both Moscow and Damascus.

The ousting of Assad by al-Sharaa Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group has thrown the future of Russia's military bases in Syria - the Hmeimim airbase in Latakia and the Tartous naval facility - into question.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the status of Russia's military bases would be the subject of negotiations with the new leadership in Damascus.

Al-Sharaa said this month that Syria's relations with Russia should serve common interests.