Algeria cut diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates, Algerian state television said. [1] Reuters filed the rupture. [1] Al Jazeera filed the ambassador given 48 hours to leave. [2] A rupture is not a closed Gulf and not a closed Hormuz. Print the break. Do not print a strait.

Western Sahara, Abraham Accords, and Sahel arguments are the background file, not Thursday's operative sentence. [2] People-to-people copy from Abu Dhabi is a claim. A claim is not restored ties. Print cut. Leave a named restoration to the edition that owns a named restoration.

Cut remains the only honest Thursday word on this Algeria desk, not a decoded riddle from Abu Dhabi.
Print the 48 hours. Keep this off the Brent lede.

-- HENDRIK VAN DER BERG, Brussels