Connect with us

World

Algeria bill seeks to criminalise French colonial rule: What to know

Published

on

Algeria bill seeks to criminalise French colonial rule: What to know

Lawmakers in Algeria have begun debating a draft law that would criminalise France’s colonisation of the North African country amid a period of tense ties between the two countries, according to the People’s National Assembly.

French colonial rule in Algeria lasted for more than 130 years, which was marked by torture, enforced disappearances, massacres, economic exploitation and marginalisation of the Indigenous Muslim population.

Algeria gained independence from France in 1962, but it came at a high human cost: up to 1.5 million people are believed to have been killed, thousands disappeared and millions displaced.

Here is what we know about the draft legislation.

What do we know about the bill?

The draft law, which seeks to criminalise France’s colonial rule in Algeria between 1830 and 1962, was introduced in the People’s National Assembly, Algeria’s lower house of parliament, on Saturday.

Advertisement

The bill will go up for a vote on Wednesday, according to reports.

Public broadcaster AL24 News reported that the draft, which contains five chapters comprising 27 articles, is based on “the principles of international law that affirm peoples’ right to legal redress” and “the achievement of historical justice”.

It aims to “establish responsibility, secure recognition and an apology for crimes of colonialism as a foundation for reconciliation with history and the protection of national memory,” the channel reported.

What has the speaker said?

Introducing the bill, Speaker Ibrahim Boughali said it was not just a legal text, but a “defining milestone in the course of modern Algeria”.

“It is a supreme act of sovereignty, a clear moral stance, and an unambiguous political message, expressing Algeria’s commitment to its inalienable rights and its loyalty to the sacrifices of its people,” Boughali said, according to the Anadolu news agency.

Advertisement

He noted that France’s colonisation of the country was “not limited to the plundering of wealth”.

“It also extended to policies of systematic impoverishment, starvation, and exclusion aimed at breaking the will of the Algerian people, erasing their identity, and severing their ties to their … roots,” he said.

How has France responded?

The French government has not yet responded to the debate.

But French President Emmanuel Macron has previously said he would not apologise for the colonisation of the country.

He told Le Point magazine in 2023 that he would not ask forgiveness from Algeria but intended to work towards reconciliation with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

Advertisement

“It’s not up to me to ask forgiveness,” he said in the interview, the AFP news agency reported.

“The worst thing would be to decide: ‘we apologise and each go our own way’,” Macron said. “Work on memory and history isn’t a settling of all accounts.”

What do we know about France’s colonial history in Algeria?

France ruled Algeria from 1830 until being driven out as a colonial power in a brutal war of independence that raged from 1954 to 1962.

Some 1.5 million Algerians were killed in the war, with French forces accused of gross human rights violations and war crimes, including systematic torture, summary executions and enforced disappearances. The French colonial forces also destroyed thousands of villages, forcibly displacing some two million Algerians.

In 2018, France acknowledged it was responsible for systematic torture during the war.

Advertisement

How are relations between France and Algeria?

Algeria and France maintain enduring ties through immigration in particular, but the parliamentary debate comes amid friction in the relationship.

Tensions have been high for months since Paris recognised Morocco’s autonomy plan for resolving the Western Sahara conflict in July 2024. Western Sahara has witnessed armed rebellion since it was annexed by Morocco after the colonial power, Spain, left the territory in 1975.

Algeria supports the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination in Western Sahara and backs the Polisario Front, which rejects Morocco’s autonomy proposal.

In April, the tensions escalated into a crisis after an Algerian diplomat was arrested along with two Algerian nationals in Paris. The diplomatic crisis came barely a week after Macron and Tebboune expressed their commitment to revive dialogue.

Advertisement

World

Iran closes Strait of Hormuz over ceasefire violations

Published

on

Iran closes Strait of Hormuz over ceasefire violations
Iran’s top joint military command, ​Khatam al-Anbiya Central ‌Headquarters, said on Saturday that the Strait ​of Hormuz would ​be closed to vessel ⁠traffic, citing ​alleged violations of a ​ceasefire agreement by the U.S. and Israel, Iran’s ​Mehr state ​news agency reported.
Continue Reading

World

Keir Starmer reportedly considering stepping down as PM and could announce timetable for departure

Published

on

Keir Starmer reportedly considering stepping down as PM and could announce timetable for departure

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is reportedly considering stepping down and could announce a timetable for his departure as early as Monday, according to a report published Saturday.

Advertisement

Britain’s Observer newspaper reported that Starmer was discussing his future with his wife at his Chequers country residence before making a final decision.

The outlet reported that senior Labour Party figures expect a statement addressing his future as early as next week.

A government source told Reuters that Starmer remains focused on governing and pointed to previous comments in which he vowed to remain in office.

AS EPSTEIN-LINKED APPOINTMENT SPARKS BACKLASH, UK PM STARMER FACES PARTY REVOLT AMID RESIGNATION CALLS

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer awaits Switzerland’s Federal President Guy Parmelin on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Evian-les-Bains, France, Tuesday. (Isabel Infantes/Pool Reuters via AP)

Advertisement

Fox News Digital has reached out to the prime minister’s office for comment.

Pressure on Starmer has been building for months amid growing dissatisfaction within his party and concerns over the government’s handling of the economy and cost-of-living issues.

The political threat to Starmer intensified Friday after rival Andy Burnham won a seat in Parliament, positioning him to mount a formal leadership challenge.

LABOUR MP PUTS CABINET ‘ON NOTICE,’ THREATENS TO TRIGGER LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE AGAINST STARMER BY MONDAY

Britain’s Labour party candidate Andy Burnham speaks to supporters after the Makerfield by-election in Ashton in Makerfield, England, Friday. (Jon Super/AP)

Advertisement

Starmer congratulated Burnham following the victory, writing on X that voters, “chose Labour’s campaign of hope and optimism over division and hate.”

When asked about Burnham’s apparent ambitions to replace him, Starmer insisted he intends to remain in office.

“I’ve said repeatedly I’m not going to walk away from that,” Starmer said.

UK’S STARMER JUGGLES TROUBLE AT HOME AS HE WALKS GEOPOLITICAL TIGHTROPE WITH TRUMP

Sir Keir Starmer is battling to save his position and refusing to stand aside despite dozens of Labout MP’s demanding he resigns. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Advertisement

Starmer has led the Labour Party since 2020 and became prime minister in 2024.

Calls for his resignation intensified last month, with more than 100 Labour lawmakers publicly urging him to step aside or set out a timetable for his departure. Several parliamentary aides also resigned in protest.

The internal revolt followed a series of disappointing local election results for Labour, which lost hundreds of council seats across England, surrendered long-held ground in Wales and fell behind political rivals in Scotland.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks a news conference at Downing Street in London, March 5. (Tolga Akmen/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images, File)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Advertisement

Starmer’s popularity has also declined amid a persistently high cost of living, sluggish economic growth and criticism over his acceptance of gifts from wealthy donors.

Fox News Digital’s James Cirrone and Emma Bussey, and Reuters contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

World

Trump vows Iran will not charge Strait of Hormuz tolls, but says US might

Published

on

Trump vows Iran will not charge Strait of Hormuz tolls, but says US might

United States President Donald Trump has pledged there will be no tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, unless they are collected by his own country.

Trump’s statement, made in a Saturday afternoon post on Truth Social, is the latest sign that a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) may be unravelling.

Recommended Stories

list of 3 itemsend of list

“There will be NO TOLLS in the Hormuz Strait for 60 days during the Cease Fire Period, and there will be NO TOLLS after the 60 day period has expired,” Trump wrote, “unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America.”

Since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, Iran has successfully used the Strait of Hormuz as a pressure point, closing the strategic waterway to traffic.

But under the terms of Wednesday’s ceasefire memorandum, the strait is supposed to reopen for an interim period of 60 days. During that time, Iran is barred from charging vessels for passage.

Advertisement

On Saturday, however, Iran’s joint military command said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, citing a “clear breach” of the memorandum’s commitments.

US Central Command (CENTCOM), the agency that oversees military operations in the region, denied that report and maintained that the traffic continues to flow through the waterway.

The Strait of Hormuz has long been a flashpoint in the conflict between the US and Iran. Nearly 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas is transported through the strait, as well as about 30 percent of the global fertiliser trade.

Closure of the strait has caused global fuel costs to soar and has tested agricultural sectors across the world.

Trump had responded to Iran’s chokehold over the strait by imposing a US naval blockade on Iran’s ports in the region.

Advertisement

But that naval blockade was lifted under the terms of Wednesday’s memorandum. The deal also paused fighting on all fronts in the regional conflict, including in Lebanon.

The memorandum, though, was not intended as a long-term deal. It serves as a launching point for negotiations on key issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear programme.

Several points of divergence also went unaddressed in the memorandum. Nowhere does the memo say that future tolls cannot be collected from the strait after the 60-day period expires.

Before the war, there was no charge for passage through the strait. Trump himself said in an interview with The New York Times that the waterway should remain “permanently toll-free”.

But he appeared to reverse course in Saturday’s post, once again floating the possibility that the US could extract tolls in the strait, while barring Iran from doing so.

Advertisement

No fees should be levied, Trump wrote, “unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America, should the deal not be completed”.

He explained that such a charge would compensate the US “for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East for purposes of both past, present, and future reimbursement of costs”.

Trump used similar language in his New York Times interview earlier this week, floating the US becoming “the guardian of the Middle East” in exchange for 20 percent of its revenue.

Saturday’s post is not the first time Trump has mused about the US imposing tolls in the strait, either.

In April, for instance, he discussed the idea with reporters, saying, “What about us charging tolls? I’d rather do that than let them have them. Why shouldn’t we? We’re the winner. We won.”

Advertisement

 

There has been no indication that Trump’s plans have been officially presented to countries in the region, many of whom have struck a careful balance in their dealings with both the US and Iran during the war.

Iranian officials, meanwhile, have repeatedly said they will not rule out imposing tolls in the strait, framing the issue as a matter of sovereignty and regional negotiation. The strait sits between Iran and Oman.

Further discussions are expected on the matter in the coming weeks.

But such negotiations have been thrown into jeopardy amid ongoing Israeli military operations in Lebanon, which threaten to violate Wednesday’s ceasefire memorandum.

Advertisement

Iran claimed that Saturday’s closure of the strait was a result of new Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, which killed dozens of people after the ceasefire was announced.

Iranian officials have also said that any upcoming talks should focus on proper implementation of the initial memorandum, and that the 60-day negotiating period stipulated in Wednesday’s deal would begin after that was settled.

Pakistan, a top mediator between the US and Iran, has said that follow-up talks are set to begin in Switzerland on Sunday.

Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that an Iranian delegation, led by parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, has already arrived for the negotiations.

On the US side, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance are expected to attend.

Advertisement

Vance departed for Switzerland late Saturday.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending