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Morocco gets support from heavyweight Germany over Western Sahara territorial claim
Germany gave its backing on Thursday to a Moroccan autonomy plan for resolving the Western Sahara conflict, days after the North African country's king urged allies to "clarify their positions". A joint statement issued at the end of a visit to Rabat by Foreign...
Morocco: Two Moroccan diplomats on assignment in Colombia suspended for questionable behavior
Two Moroccan diplomats have been suspended from their positions in Colombia after they were drugged and robbed by women they met on Tinder, a diplomatic source in Rabat told AFP on Friday. The men, an adviser and an accountant at the kingdom's embassy in Bogota, were...
Morocco: At least 23 killed in bus crash in Khouribia
UPDATE: The death toll has been raised to 23 people, another 36 people were injured in the crash of a bus travelling between Casablanca and the rural region of Ait Attab, near the town of Beni Mellal at the foot of the High Atlas mountains....
Morocco hard hit by drought
By Kaouthar Oudrhiri: Mohamed gave up farming because of successive droughts that have hit his previously fertile but isolated village in Morocco and because he just couldn't bear it any longer. "To see villagers rush to public fountains in the morning or to a...
Morocco: Intense wildfires in north Morocco blamed on arson
Three firefighters died and two others were seriously injured in a forest fire in northern Morocco that was suspected to have been started deliberately, authorities said Tuesday. The firefighters were in a vehicle that plunged into a ravine while they were battling...
Morocco jails blogger for disrespecting religion
A Moroccan blogger has been sentenced to two years in prison for "offending the Muslim religion" after posts on Facebook deemed offensive to Islam, her brother told AFP on Tuesday. Bouzza Karim said his 39-year-old sister Fatema was questioned by police on July 15...
Moroccan court OKs extradition to US of French cybercrime suspect Sebastien Raoult
Morocco's top court has given a preliminary endorsement over the extradition to the US of a French national suspected of cybercrimes, judicial sources said on Monday. A document seen by AFP said the court gave a "favourable opinion" on the extradition of Sebastien...
Morocco: Pressure on Prime Minister to resign over skyrocketing gasoline prices
By Ismail Bellaouali Morocco's Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, a billionaire petrol baron, is facing a growing online campaign demanding he step down as fuel prices -- and energy firms' profits -- surge. The government of the North African kingdom, which is heavily...
Western Sahara: Morocco and Algeria entrenched in their positions, unwilling to compromise
Morocco called Tuesday for a return to regional roundtable talks on a peace deal over the Western Sahara, a format rejected by neighbouring Algeria which says it masks the nature of the conflict. Morocco's top diplomat Nasser Bourita made the comments in a statement...
Morocco: French billionaire Jacques Bouthier accused by four Moroccan women of sexual harassment
Four women have pressed charges in Morocco against French insurance tycoon Jacques Bouthier, currently under arrest in Paris on charges of raping a minor, a rights group said Friday. Bouthier is accused of various acts of "people trafficking, sexual harassment and...
Morocco: Anger over soaring fuel prices
Petrol prices rose to record highs in Morocco on Thursday, fuelling anger among unions who demanded the government of energy tycoon Aziz Akhannouch act to protect consumers. Drivers in Morocco, which relies heavily on imported oil products whose prices have soared...
Regional crises: EU warns Algeria against “discriminatory treatment” of Spain
The European Union on Friday warned Algeria against any "discriminatory treatment" of Spain after it suspended a cooperation pact in a row over disputed Western Sahara. Algeria's diplomatic mission to the EU reacted with anger, insisting that the move would have no...
Algeria-Spain relations thrown into disarray after Madrid ended its neutrality on the Western Sahara
Opinion by Arezki Daoud: With Algeria supplying 40% of Spain's gas consumption and providing lucrative export market for Spanish companies, from manufacturing and oil services to construction and food export, Madrid is likely to feel intense pressure from Algeria's...
Spain warns Morocco not to weaponize immigration in their bilateral dealings
Spain "will not tolerate" the use of immigration as a "means of pressure", Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday in an indirect warning to Morocco. It comes after the two nations normalised relations following a bitter diplomatic spat, which erupted...
Moroccan national captured by Russian forces while fighting in Ukraine
Pro-Moscow separatists sentenced to death two British fighters and a third from Morocco, who were captured by Russian troops while fighting for Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported on Thursday. The "supreme court of the Donetsk People's Republic" ordered the death...
Morocco: German cruise ship ‘Mein Schiff Herz’ prevented from entering Morocco over Covid-19 scare
Morocco has refused entry to passengers on a German cruise liner after some tested positive for Covid-19, Moroccan media reported Wednesday. The Mein Schiff Herz, owned by German tourism giant TUI and capable of carrying 1,900 passengers plus crew, had been meant to...
Moroccans living abroad return home this summer in large numbers
Morocco on Sunday begins welcoming an influx of its citizens living in Europe after the pandemic led to a halt in what has been called one of the world's biggest cross-continental migrations. The last such effort in the summer of 2019 saw 3.3 million people and more...
Morocco facing a daunting economic outlook
By Ismail Bellaouali A withering drought and poor harvests plus price hikes fuelled by the war in Ukraine are threatening Morocco's fragile economic recovery and exposing structural weaknesses, experts say. The North African kingdom had bounced back last year after a...
Algeria suspends treaty of friendship with Spain over Western Sahara
By Abdellah Cheballah Algeria said Wednesday it was suspending a decades-old co-operation treaty with Spain, after Madrid backed the position of the North African country's arch-rival Morocco on the disputed Western Sahara. "Algeria has decided to immediately suspend...
Western Sahara human rights defender Sultana Khaya released after 19 months of house arrest
Human rights defender Sultana Khaya arrived in southeastern Spain Friday where she will receive medical treatment for injuries sustained during 19 months of house arrest in Western Sahara, the Polisario Front said. Her arrival comes barely two months after Spain...
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