21 July marks the centenary of the birth of Mohammed Dib, one of the founding fathers of French-language Algerian literature. Born in 1920 in Tlemcen, Algeria's national writer spent the greater part of his life in exile. He passed away on 2 May 2003 in the Parisian suburb of La Celle-Saint-Cloud. By Regina Keil-SagaweMore

Late summer in Agadir. Hay bales are piled up along the roadside; lorries full of bleating sheep rattle past: Eid ul-Adha, the Islamic feast of sacrifice, casts a long shadow. But while butchers everywhere are sharpening their knives, in the no-man′s-land to the south-east of the city, the former rubbish processing plant near Tikiouine is home to an embryonic pilot project celebrating life: ″Dar Imouddar″ – The House of Animals. By Regina Keil-SagaweMore

The renowned Algerian writer, Mohammed Moulessehoul, who goes by his pen name Yasmina Khadra, wanted to stand as an independent candidate for the presidency of Algeria. He funded his own campaign and criss-crossed the country seeking nomination. Unfortunately, he only managed to win the support of 43,000 people, 17,000 short of the minimum number needed to be able to contest the election. Regina Keil-Sagawe spoke to the author about his campaign and about the situation in AlgeriaMore