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Morocco uses threat of migrants to force Spain to change its position on the Western Sahara conflict
Morocco-Spain relations facing new challenges as Morocco focuses solely on Western Sahara politics By Hazel Ward, with Daniel Silva in Madrid - Migrants were still trying to cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on Wednesday after a record 8,000 people...
Morocco: Growing bad blood with Europe over the disputed Western Sahara
Rabat directs its anger at Spain Moroccan media calls the current state of affairs between Morocco and Spain as “a crisis.” This is because apparently Madrid could have stopped a hospital in La Rioja from treating Brahim Ghali, the secretary general of the Sahrawi...
Migrants from Morocco resort to swimming to flee to Europe
Around 100 migrants tried to swim to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco, Spanish police said Monday. The migrants set off Sunday from beaches in Fnideq, a few kilometres south of Ceuta and "some" managed to reach a beach in Ceuta on their own while...
MENA region more vulnerable to Covid-19 with the start of Ramadan
The World Health Organization expressed concern Wednesday that the Covid-19 pandemic could worsen in the Middle East and North Africa during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Detected cases of Covid infection in the region rose 22% last week, while deaths rose 17%,...
Morocco: Victim of sexual assault during protest, Nezha Majdi gets jailed instead
A Moroccan teacher and 19 peers have been charged with "outrage" against security forces after she accused the latter of sexual assault during a protest against employment conditions, her lawyer said. Nezha Majdi, aged around 20, and her fellow teachers were charged...
Covid-19: France and Spain evacuate their citizens from Morocco
Spain and France are chartering planes and ferries to bring home thousands of their nationals stranded in Morocco because of the pandemic, their embassies said on Twitter. Rabat last week decided to suspend all passenger flights to and from the two European countries...
Morocco: 3,000 Spaniards stranded in Morocco after Rabat banned flight from Spain
Madrid said Wednesday it was working to help repatriate some 3,000 Spanish tourists who are stranded in Morocco after it suddenly imposed a blockade on passenger flights to Spain because of the pandemic. The Moroccan government announced on Monday that all passenger...
Moroccan farmers in Algeria’s Laaroda oasis: Victims of a neglected conflict
Moroccan farmers in an isolated oasis on the Algerian border are bearing the brunt of regional tensions after Algiers expelled them from date groves they have worked for generations. The border between the arch-rivals has been closed since 1994, but Algeria had...
Algeria expels Moroccan farmers from its territory, courtesy Western Sahara crisis
NAJ | 19 March 2021: The Algerian authorities have issued an ultimatum to Moroccan farmers working of the Laaroda Oasis palm grove, located in Beni Ouenif, province of Bechar. The ultimatum was to leave the region by 18 March. AFP reported that the withdrawal happened...
Morocco: Jailed publisher Bouachrine announces the closing of newspaper Akhbar al Yaoum
By Redouane Benmehdi - Moroccan newspaper Akhbar al Yaoum shut down its operations after 14 years in business. Its closing, which left its staff and journalists stunned and concerned about their future, was announced on March 14, 2021 by its founder Taoufik...
Business: With a choking tourism industry, Morocco’s craftsmen face daunting outlook
By Redouane Benmehdi - Hundreds of thousands of Moroccan craftsmen are facing a daunting future as the government’s Covid-19 policies have resulted in their isolation and lack of effective financial support. The pandemic has starved the craftsmen from their usual...
Morocco: Health of jailed intellectual Maatib Monjib reportedly deteriorating
Supporters of a jailed Moroccan historian and rights activist expressed "serious concern" for his health on Wednesday, days after he began a hunger strike. The support committee for 60-year-old Maatib Monjib "expresses its serious concern about the effects of (his)...
Morocco: Jailed historian Maati Monjib goes on hunger strike
A Moroccan historian and rights activist who was jailed in January has begun a hunger strike, supporters and a legal representative said. Maati Monjib, 60, declared that he had begun the hunger strike on Thursday, a statement by his supporters said on Friday....
Morocco: Germany summons Moroccan envoy over Rabat’s anger on the Western Sahara and Libya
The German government said Wednesday it had called in the Moroccan ambassador in Berlin for "urgent" talks, after Rabat said it had suspended contacts with Germany's embassy. "Yesterday, we summoned the Moroccan ambassador to urgent talks at the Foreign Ministry to...
Western Sahara: European court to decide if Western Sahara goods are part of EU-Morocco accords
Luxembourg, Feb 28, 2021 (AFP) - The European Court of Justice is next week to discuss EU-Morocco accords allowing Rabat to export goods from Western Sahara that are contested by the pro-independence Polisario Front. It is to hold two sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday...
Moroccans debating legalization of cannabis for medicinal use
Morocco, a country where large volumes of cannabis are grown illicitly, is considering legalising production for therapeutic use of the drug, the government said Thursday. The government has "begun to study a legislative bill relating to the legal use of cannabis," it...
Morocco: Police seize 9.5 tons of cannabis near Rabat
Around 9.5 tonnes of cannabis resin was seized from a refrigerated lorry near Morocco's capital Rabat, the national security service said Monday. A police operation intercepted "a refrigerated lorry carrying 380 bales of around 9.5 tonnes of the drug, hidden among a...
Morocco: Protests in northern Morocco over social and economic despair
The Moroccan authorities dispatched police reinforcement to the northern city of Fnideq, where protests have erupted over social and economic despair among the population. Moroccan media reported rallies as having erupted because of the closure of the border with the...
Morocco: Uproar in Morocco as death toll in textile flooded workshop rises to 28
By Hicham Rafih - Authorities in Morocco faced mounting questions and calls for accountability Wednesday, two days after 28 people died when heavy rain flooded a basement factory in the port city of Tangiers. "The victims were trapped with no way to get out" and...
Western Sahara: Tensions running high as Polisario Front says three Moroccan soldiers killed in attack in Touizgui
In response to this article As a former journalist, I sympathize with others who struggle to find the correct wording to describe territories and movements. However, I must take issue gently with the item in today's weekly recap on the Polisario attack in southern...
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