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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...
Morocco: Jailed journalist Omar Radi rejects espionage charge
Jailed Moroccan journalist and rights activist Omar Radi, appealing a conviction for espionage, denied on Tuesday delivering sensitive information to two British consultancy firms. Radi was sentenced in July to six years in prison for espionage and rape. His trial had...
Morocco’s dams reserved down to 33% capacity, government earmarks one billion dollars for aid
Morocco said Wednesday it will launch a nearly $1 billion aid programme to help its agriculture industry, which has been hit hard by a particularly acute drought in recent years. The emergency plan "aims to mitigate the effects of delay in rainfall, to alleviate the...
Morocco and Germany agree to resume diplomatic relations after year-long freeze
Morocco and Germany agreed Wednesday to overcome "misunderstandings" and renew "close amicable relations" after a year-long diplomatic freeze, including over the issue of the disputed Western Sahara. The announcement followed a video conference between Moroccan...
Morocco ‘sex for grades’ lecturer jailed for year:
A Moroccan court has jailed a lecturer for a year for sexually harassing a female student, a lawyer said Saturday, as a "sex for grades" scandal rocks the kingdom's academic institutions. "The defendant was found guilty of sexual harassment by the Tangiers court of...
Western Sahara conflict intensifies: Polisario says it killed 12 Moroccan soldiers as Morocco reportedly uses drones
The Polisario Front said Friday it had killed 12 Moroccan soldiers, including two senior officers, since February 1 in its struggle for independence for Western Sahara. "Twelve soldiers have died in attacks over several days in February, and all the information is...
Morocco: Accidental death of young boy in a well prompts Morocco to inventory its wells
Moroccan authorities plan to survey abandoned and unauthorized wells across the country, the official MAP news agency reported Thursday, after the death of a boy trapped in a borehole sparked global attention. The boy, Rayan, had fallen down a narrow 32-metre...
Crimes: Drug smugglers use deceptive practices to get hashish from Morocco into Spain
Spanish police said on Thursday they had busted a drug ring suspected of simulating sailboat accidents, including an attack by orcas, to smuggle hashish from Morocco to Spain. The group allegedly loaded drugs onto sailboats in Morocco and once in Spanish waters "would...
Morocco: World in shock as Morocco buries young Rayan
By Hicham Rafih and Fadel Senna, with Ismail Bellaouali in Rabat Moroccans on Monday attended the funeral of Rayan, a five-year-old boy who spent five days trapped down a well, sparking a vast rescue operation that gripped the world but ended in tragedy. The boy...
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