ALGIERS / Reuters Algeria aims to amend its energy law in 2018 as it plans to improve contract terms to attract needed foreign investment, authorities said, giving the first timeline for a much-anticipated move. OPEC member and gas supplier Algeria relies heavily on energy revenues to balance state finances, which have been hit significantly by a drop in global oil …

TUNIS / Reuters Tunisia will raise VAT and other taxes and lay off about 3,000 public sector workers next year in a bid to cut the budget deficit, an economic adviser to the prime minister said. Tunisia will also seek to raise 7.4 billion Tunisian dinars ($3 billion) from foreign loans including 1.4 billion dinars from the sale of bonds, …

Bloomberg The latest battle for Iraq’s future is unfolding around the country’s oldest oil field. Federal government troops pushed back forces from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region with a rapid thrust into Kirkuk province in northern Iraq, breaking a stand-off over the long-disputed area. Baghdad wants to reassert control of the area’s oil deposits from Kurdish fighters, who seized the territory …