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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...
Tragedy in Morocco with death of young boy Rayan after failed rescue
By Hicham Rafih and Fadel Senna, with Ismail Bellaouali in Rabat Morocco was in shock Sunday after emergency crews found a five-year-old boy dead at the bottom of a well in a tragic end to a five-day rescue operation that gripped the nation and the world. The ordeal...
Religion & the environment: Morocco’s King orders mosques to pray for rain
Mosques held prayers for rain on Friday across the parched North African kingdom of Morocco where farmers are battling an acute drought. King Mohammed VI ordered all the country's mosques to hold prayers "calling on God for rain", the religious affairs ministry said...
Energy: Morocco secures gas supply from Spain
Spain on Thursday said it would help Morocco ensure its energy security by allowing it to transport supplies through the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline (GME) following a supply crisis with Algeria. "Morocco has asked for support to guarantee its energy security on the...
Morocco bid to free boy from well reaches nerve-wracking final stages
By Hicham Rafih and Fadel Senna with Kaouthar Oudrhiri in Rabat Moroccan rescuers were in the nerve-wracking final stages Friday of a marathon effort to rescue Rayan, a five-year-old boy trapped down a well for a fourth night. The complex and risky earth-moving...
Migration: Migrants rescued off the coast of Morocco
The Moroccan navy on Tuesday rescued 63 migrants including 15 women and three children after their vessel started to sink as they tried to reach the Canary Islands, activists said. Alarm Phone, which provides an emergency hotline for migrants in trouble at sea, said...
Morocco: 43 drowned as migrant boat capsizes off Morocco
Forty-three migrants including three infants died after their boat capsized off the coast of Tarfaya in southern Morocco, Spanish organisation Caminando Fronteras said Monday. Ten people were rescued from the shipwreck, the organisation's spokesperson told AFP. The...
Human Rights: Moroccan journalist Soulaimane Raissouni maintains his innocence during appeal hearing
A Moroccan journalist sentenced to five years in prison for indecent assault in a controversial case proclaimed his innocence Monday at the start of an appeal hearing. Soulaimane Raissouni, 49, who was sentenced in July last year, is the latest journalist critical of...
Morocco businessman jailed over 29 deaths in factory flood
The owner of a Moroccan textiles workshop where 29 workers drowned, most of them women, in a flood in February was sentenced to 18 months in prison, a lawyer said Thursday. The workers were trapped as heavy rains flooded the basement factory in the northern city of...
Morocco: Former rights minister Mohammed Ziane to be tried for adultery
A Moroccan former rights minister who has become an outspoken government critic said Wednesday he was facing charges of adultery and contempt of court. Mohammed Ziane said he will go on trial December 9, more than a year after he accused the kingdom's security...
Western Sahara: Biden administration confirms its support of Morocco’s roadmap on Western Sahara
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered praise Monday for Morocco's proposal on Western Sahara, marking fresh support despite rising tension over the territory with Algeria. Former president Donald Trump last year broke global precedent by recognizing Morocco's...
Morocco: Tragedy at sea as more migrants attempt dangerous crossings
Moroccan coast guards have assisted more than 300 migrants in difficulty aboard various craft since Friday, the official MAP news agency reported on Monday. Most of the 331 were from sub-Saharan Africa, the agency said, citing a military source. Despite stepped-up...
Environment: Climate change could further destabilize North Africa
By Paul Raymond Tunisian olive farmer Ali Fileli looked out over his parched fields and crushed a lump of dry, dusty earth in his hand. "I can't do anything with my land because of the lack of water," he said. Fileli is just one of many farmers who have been left high...
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