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Algeria Agrees with Italy to Tackle Terrorism, Migration at Summit

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shakes hands with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the Italy-Algeria summit at Villa Doria Pamphilj in Rome, Italy, July 23, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shakes hands with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the Italy-Algeria summit at Villa Doria Pamphilj in Rome, Italy, July 23, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
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Algeria Agrees with Italy to Tackle Terrorism, Migration at Summit

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shakes hands with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the Italy-Algeria summit at Villa Doria Pamphilj in Rome, Italy, July 23, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shakes hands with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the Italy-Algeria summit at Villa Doria Pamphilj in Rome, Italy, July 23, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

Italy and Algeria agreed to work together to fight terrorism and control migration during an intergovernmental meeting in Rome on Wednesday, documents showed, while companies signed off on deals on sectors including energy and telecommunications.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune at the 17th-century Villa Doria Pamphili, after a trip to Algiers by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in March.

Algeria is Rome's leading trading partner in Africa, with trade worth almost 14 billion euros ($16.4 billion) while Rome's investments there amount to 8.5 billion, Italy said.

According to a document seen by Reuters, a memorandum will be signed between Italy and Algeria on fighting terrorism and its financing. The document did not say which threats the countries were focused on.

The two nations will also agree on a plan to coordinate the search and rescue operations for migrants who attempt the dangerous sea crossing from North Africa to Europe. Meloni's right-wing government was elected in 2022 on a mandate to curb migrant arrivals.

On the business side, Italian energy group Eni this month signed a production sharing contract with oil and gas company Sonatrach worth $1.3 billion to explore and develop hydrocarbons in Algeria.

A document said the two companies will sign an additional agreement on the sidelines of the summit to strengthen their cooperation.

Eni buys gas from Sonatrach under a long-term contract that has made the north African country one of the key fuel suppliers for Italy after Rome severed ties with Russia's Gazprom following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

A separate deal will involve Submarine cable company Sparkle, a unit of Telecom Italia (TIM), which is set to be sold to a consortium led by Italy's Treasury later this year.

Sparkle will sign a preliminary agreement with Algerie Telecom for a new subsea cable connecting the two countries.

"Algeria is a strategic partner, and we are working hard to make this partnership ever broader, stronger and more diversified," Foreign Minister Tajani said during a speech at a business forum with over 400 companies from the two nations.

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Arab World

Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

At least two people were killed and four rescued from the rubble of a multistory apartment building that collapsed Sunday in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, state media reported.

Rescue teams were continuing to dig through the rubble. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the building when it fell.

The bodies pulled out were of a child and a woman, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Dozens of people crowded around the site of the crater left by the collapsed building, with some shooting in the air.

The building was in the neighborhood of Bab Tabbaneh, one of the poorest areas in Lebanon’s second largest city, where residents have long complained of government neglect and shoddy infrastructure. Building collapses are not uncommon in Tripoli due to poor building standards, according to The AP news.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced that those injured in the collapse would receive treatment at the state’s expense.

The national syndicate for property owners in a statement called the collapse the result of “blatant negligence and shortcomings of the Lebanese state toward the safety of citizens and their housing security,” and said it is “not an isolated incident.”

The syndicate called for the government to launch a comprehensive national survey of buildings at risk of collapse.

Arab World

Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
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Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)

Israel's security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank, The AP news reported.

They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.

The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.

Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.

Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

The United Nations' highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.

Arab World

Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the attack by the Rapid Support Forces on humanitarian aid convoys and relief workers in North Kordofan State, Sudan.

In a statement reported by SPA, secretary-general's spokesperson Jamal Rushdi quoted Aboul Gheit as saying the attack constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the deliberate targeting of civilians and depriving them of their means of survival.

Aboul Gheit stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable, end impunity, and ensure the full protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and relief facilities in Sudan.