Algeria's FLN Wins Most Seats in Parliament, Election Authority Says

President of Algeria's National Independent Elections Authority Mohamed Chorfi holds a press conference to announce the results of parliamentary elections. (AFP)
President of Algeria's National Independent Elections Authority Mohamed Chorfi holds a press conference to announce the results of parliamentary elections. (AFP)
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Algeria's FLN Wins Most Seats in Parliament, Election Authority Says

President of Algeria's National Independent Elections Authority Mohamed Chorfi holds a press conference to announce the results of parliamentary elections. (AFP)
President of Algeria's National Independent Elections Authority Mohamed Chorfi holds a press conference to announce the results of parliamentary elections. (AFP)

Algeria's National Liberation Front party (FLN) won the most seats in Saturday's parliamentary election, the head of the electoral authority said on Tuesday.

Fewer than a third of registered voters took part in the election.

The protests that erupted in 2019 demanded the ousting of the ruling elite, an end to corruption and the army's withdrawal from politics. While authorities praised the demonstrations as a moment of national renewal, they also cracked down with arrests.

"The dynamic of peaceful change that was launched (with the protests) is being strengthened," electoral authority head Mohamed Chorfi said, referring to the election, Reuters reported.

The FLN's 105 seats were far short of the 204 needed to secure a majority in the 407-seat parliament, with the Islamist MSP winning 64 seats, another former ruling coalition party, the RND, winning 57, and independent candidates taking 78 seats.

However, most of the elected members of parliament are expected to support President Abdelmadjid Tebboune's program, including economic reforms.

Islamist parties had hoped to benefit from the unrest of the past two years of protests that pushed the veteran president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, from office and led to the jailing of numerous senior officials.

But the biggest difference from previous elections was the much larger number of independents winning seats in parliament, with Islamists retaining about the same share as previously.

The leaderless "Hirak" mass protest movement boycotted the vote, as it had the 2019 election that installed Tebboune in place of Bouteflika.

Hirak has said any vote that takes place while the current establishment remains in place, and while the army interferes in politics, cannot be fair.

While elections before Hirak's rise had higher official turnout figures, they were still often marked by a large number of abstentions.

The make-up of the new parliament is expected to shape the next government, which will face a looming economic crisis with Algeria having spent more than four fifths of its foreign currency reserves since 2013.



Türkiye Begins Black Box Analysis of Jet Crash That Killed Libyan Military Chief and 7 Others

Libyan national flags fly at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
Libyan national flags fly at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
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Türkiye Begins Black Box Analysis of Jet Crash That Killed Libyan Military Chief and 7 Others

Libyan national flags fly at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
Libyan national flags fly at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)

The technical analysis of the recovered black boxes from a jet crash that killed eight people, including western Libya’s military chief, began as the investigation proceeded in cooperation with Libyan authorities, the Turkish Ministry of Defense said Thursday.

The private jet with Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, four other military officials and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Türkiye’s capital, Ankara, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.

The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to Tripoli after holding defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.

The wreckage was scattered across an area covering 3 square kilometers (more than a square mile), complicating recovery efforts, according to the Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.

A 22-person delegation, including five family members, arrived from Libya early on Wednesday to assist in the investigation.


Lebanese President: We are Determined to Hold Parliamentary Elections on Time

President Joseph Aoun between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri (Lebanese Presidency file photo)
President Joseph Aoun between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri (Lebanese Presidency file photo)
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Lebanese President: We are Determined to Hold Parliamentary Elections on Time

President Joseph Aoun between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri (Lebanese Presidency file photo)
President Joseph Aoun between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri (Lebanese Presidency file photo)

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterated on Thursday that the country’s parliamentary elections are a constitutional obligation that must be carried out on time.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency quoted Aoun as saying that he, alongside Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, is determined to hold the elections on schedule.

Aoun also emphasized that diplomatic efforts have continued unabated to keep the specter of war at bay, noting that "things are heading in a positive direction".

The agency also cited Berri reaffirming that the elections will take place as planned, with "no delays, no extensions".

The Lebanese parliamentary elections are scheduled for May next year.


Israel Calls Countries Condemning New West Bank Settlements ‘Morally Wrong’

Newly constructed buildings are pictured in the Israeli settlement of Givat Zeev near the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on October 24, 2025. (AFP)
Newly constructed buildings are pictured in the Israeli settlement of Givat Zeev near the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on October 24, 2025. (AFP)
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Israel Calls Countries Condemning New West Bank Settlements ‘Morally Wrong’

Newly constructed buildings are pictured in the Israeli settlement of Givat Zeev near the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on October 24, 2025. (AFP)
Newly constructed buildings are pictured in the Israeli settlement of Givat Zeev near the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on October 24, 2025. (AFP)

Israel reacted furiously on Thursday to a condemnation by 14 countries including France and Britain of its approval of new settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling the criticism discriminatory against Jews.

"Foreign governments will not restrict the right of Jews to live in the Land of Israel, and any such call is morally wrong and discriminatory against Jews," Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said.

"The cabinet decision to establish 11 new settlements and to formalize eight additional settlements is intended, among other things, to help address the security threats Israel is facing."

On Sunday, Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that authorities had greenlit the settlements, saying the move was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Fourteen countries, including Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Canada, then issued a statement urging Israel to reverse its decision, "as well as the expansion of settlements".

Such unilateral actions, they said, "violate international law", and risk undermining a fragile ceasefire in Gaza in force since October 10.

They also reaffirmed their "unwavering commitment to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the two-state solution... where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side-by-side in peace and security".

Israel has occupied the West Bank following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Excluding east Jerusalem, which was occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967, more than 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank, along with about three million Palestinian residents.

Earlier this month, the United Nations said the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, all of which are illegal under international law, had reached its highest level since at least 2017.