Cameron Hudson: UAE is virtually the sole backer of the RSF..without its support the war in Sudan would not continue Copy link

Algeria Gate – Editorial by Amar Belani: After five full minutes of complaining that Algeria no longer buys French products (except medicines), a CNEWS commentator ended his lament with a line as grotesque as it is revealing: “Algerians boycott France, but Algerian nationals in France do not boycott social benefits.”

Beyond its sheer stupidity, the remark is a concentrated dose of resentment and contempt. Analysis of a commercial relationship has been abandoned in favour of an old repertoire of stigmatisation, with Algeria as scarecrow and Algerians as scapegoats.

This is where a certain Bolloré-branded press has arrived: less information, more resentment; less analysis, more provocation; and the same pathological obsession with turning every Franco-Algerian issue into a trial of Algerians. By scraping the bottom of public debate, CNEWS — a principal vector of the far-right sphere — confuses journalism with hateful score-settling. In doing so, it helps prepare the ideological ground on which the extreme right hopes to prosper ahead of the April 2027 presidential election.

Algeria Gate: The sequence is unlikely to please those in France who view Algeria solely through the prism of authoritarianism. Invited on France Inter, Ségolène Royal refused to label the Algerian regime “authoritarian,” redirected the discussion toward French realities and called for a reset with Algiers.

Pressed repeatedly by journalist Benjamin Duhamel, she replied: “No, I cannot say that… It is up to the Algerian people to define themselves.” She acknowledged certain problems in Algeria but rejected a blanket characterisation, contrasting with much of the French media’s persistently negative framing.

Turning the mirror on France, she asked: “And France… what is France?” citing recent tensions around school protests and police interventions. France, she noted, also faces its own problems; it is difficult under those conditions to act as permanent judge of others.

On the cases of Boualem Sansal and French journalist Christophe Gleizes, she maintained her refusal to describe the regime as authoritarian and criticised the detention of an Algerian consular agent by France as unwise. Challenging the systematically negative image of Algeria, she asked whether the Pope would have visited the country if it were as portrayed, and whether the violence seen in the streets of Paris itself is not “barbaric.”

Beyond the controversy, Royal advocated a pragmatic approach: restoring diplomatic relations would be “intelligent,” particularly to strengthen energy cooperation and allow France access to Algerian gas. She also highlighted green hydrogen and urged Europeans to work more closely with their Maghreb neighbours and Africa more broadly; a discourse that stands in clear contrast to the moralising tone of certain French commentators.

Algeria Gate: Did Morocco use its intelligence services to monitor people on Spanish soil? A new Amnesty International report sheds fresh light on the issue.

The 126-page document details what the organization calls Morocco’s “surveillance machine.” It documents the use of the Pegasus spyware against journalists, activists, lawyers and political figures, including targets outside Morocco.

Spanish daily El Mundo highlighted the Spanish dimension of the findings and the role of Morocco’s Directorate General of Territorial Surveillance (DGST).

Amnesty identified a cross-border campaign that targeted Moroccans living in Europe as well as foreign personalities. Spain emerged as one of the main theatres of these operations.

The first Spanish phone identified belonged to Sahrawi human-rights activist Aminatou Haidar. Investigators say it was infected on May 11th, 2018.

In 2019 the list expanded to include Moroccan journalist based in Spain Hussein Majdoubi and Spanish journalist Ignacio Cembrero, known for his reporting on Morocco.

Amnesty further states that Pegasus was used in 2021 against the phones of Spain’s defence, interior and agriculture ministers.

Some infections relied on “zero-click” techniques that require no action from the victim. Technical links between attacks allowed investigators to attribute the operations to a single operator.

The report concludes that the DGST deployed Pegasus in Morocco between 2017 and 2021, with possible later use. Journalists and human-rights defenders were among the primary targets from the outset.

These revelations gain added weight against the backdrop of the 2021 diplomatic crisis between Spain and Morocco, triggered by the hospitalisation in Spain of Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali.

Amnesty International calls for independent investigations and the suspension of surveillance technology transfers to Morocco until adequate human-rights safeguards are in place.

The findings, supported by both Amnesty’s technical analysis and Spanish media coverage, place Moroccan surveillance practices firmly at the centre of European concerns.