FOCUS ON
MOROCCO
Click here to sign up for free weekly email
Email recaps are sent every Thursdays.
Sign up today
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...
Morocco: World’s biggest producer of cannabis inches closer to legalizing it
Morocco's national regulatory agency overseeing the use of cannabis for medical use met for the first time Thursday in one of the last steps before legalisation in the world's top cannabis-resin producer. The North African nation adopted a law in 2021 provisionally...
Western Sahara: Reports of Moroccan security forces assaulting Sahrawi militants
Human rights group Amnesty International Friday urged Moroccan authorities to investigate urgently allegations that security forces last month assaulted five women activists who support independence for disputed Western Sahara. Two of the women reported that they were...
Energy: Morocco convinces Nigeria to move forward with gas pipeline to Europe
Nigeria's government has directed its state-run oil company NNPC to implement a deal on a gas pipeline to Europe through Morocco. Africa's gas resources are increasingly in the spotlight as the European Union looks to wean itself off Russian supplies following the...
Terrorism: Members of 84 states and organizations meet in Marrakesh to discuss anti-terror strategy
The global coalition against the Islamic State group gathered Wednesday in Morocco to coordinate efforts to prevent the jihadists staging a revival in the Middle East and North Africa. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was to co-host the meeting with Moroccan...
Morocco: Dozens of teachers sent to prison for protesting and “insulting a state body”
Forty-five Moroccan teachers have been handed suspended prison sentences for attending unauthorised protests last year over a long-running contract dispute with the education ministry, their lawyer said Friday. The charges related to protests and strikes that have...
Morocco: Three-day strike in the transport sector over skyrocketing fuel price
Moroccan truck drivers are observing a three-day strike in protest at spiralling fuel costs, a union said Tuesday, as oil prices spike over Russia's war in Ukraine. Around three quarters of drivers are observing the strike, said Mounir Benazouz of the SNPTR truckers'...
MENA region confronted with dangerous wheat supply crisis
By Sarah Benhaida Russia's invasion of Ukraine could mean less bread on the table in Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen and elsewhere in the Arab world where millions already struggle to survive. The region is heavily dependent on wheat supplies from the two countries which are...
Morocco: Journalist Soulaimane Raissouni gets five years in prison
Moroccan journalist Soulaimane Raissouni was jailed Wednesday for five years after appealing his sentence for indecent assault, despite prosecutors seeking a 10-year custodial term, according to an AFP correspondent. The 49-year-old former editor of the now-defunct...
Tensions between Algeria and Morocco persist as Rabat calls border areas military zone
Morocco has established a new military zone bordering Algeria, a Moroccan military publication said Monday, amid mounting tensions between the two North African countries. The establishment of the new zone redefines Morocco's military borders, introducing a new...
Connect
You can find us on a few social media platforms. Feel free to connect with us there.