Algiers

A UNESCO-listed rabbit warren of 16th-century battlements and Ottoman palaces, the Casbah of the Algerian capital is falling into disrepair, but efforts to save it have been accelerating.

The densely populated district, about a kilometer across, perches above the Bay of Algiers and has been the site of key moments in the North African country's history.

Hoteliers in Istanbul have demanded the Algerian Embassy pay in full the expenses of the Algerians who were stranded in the city and accommodated in hotels after flights were cancelled in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Algeria's oldest museum, home to some of the country's most valuable art, was vandalized during protests against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term, the culture ministry said on March 9.

Crowds of mainly young protesters faced off with riot police in Algiers until early on March 4 after Bouteflika's campaign manager formalized the longtime leader's candidacy for a fifth term in the April 18 election. Demonstrations were also held in other cities.

The Turkish president offered condolences to his Algerian counterpart Abdelaziz Bouteflika on April 11 after a military aircraft crashed near the capital Algiers, killing 257 people.

The number of people believed to have died in an Algerian military plane crash on Wednesday has risen to 257, according to state TV, quoted by Reuters. 

The military transport plane crashed into a field shortly after take off at Boufarik airport, southwest of Algiers.

It's a rubbish job, but someone has to do it. Or some animal: in the alleyways of Algiers' famed Kasbah, donkeys shift tons of trash every day.

Some streets in the Kasbah are so narrow that single file is necessary. Others are wider but are steep and stepped, ruling out more usual rubbish collection methods.

Algerian authorities on April 3 announced their acquisition of 600 historical maps and manuscripts dating back to the country's Ottoman period. 

According to a statement issued by the Algerian Culture Ministry, the documents were purchased last week at a public auction in France. 

An archaeological treasure trove on the site of a planned metro station in central Algiers is set to become a museum, opening a window on 2,000 years of history.

The site, close to the Algerian capital's UNESCO-listed casbah, has yielded remains from the city's Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and French periods.

BELGRADE - The head of the Serbian Government Office for Reconstruction and Flood Relief Marko Blagojevic and Algerian Ambassador to Serbia Abdelkader Mesdoua on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding under which the Algerian government will donate USD 500,000 for post-flood reconstruction and recovery in the water management sector.