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North Africa confronting tough climate change
Skoura, Morocco, Feb 14, 2020 (By Ismail Bellaouali) - Dead palm trees lie on dry, yellowish earth near an abandoned adobe house in Morocco's arid southeast, as drought threatens ancient oases. "I grew up in this oasis and I have seen it shrink," says 53-year-old...
Morocco: Tough times for migrants in Morocco
Fnideq, Morocco, Feb 7, 2020 (Hamza Mekouar) - Mustapha left his home in Guinea two years ago to make the arduous journey to Morocco, hoping to cross the fence separating the kingdom from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. "We're going to cross this barrier," he told AFP,...
Morocco: Rights groups urge Morocco to free people jailed for their political opinion
Rabat, Feb 5, 2020 - Human rights groups called Wednesday for the release of at least 10 Moroccan citizens arrested and prosecuted over the past five months who "did nothing but peacefully express critical opinions". Those arrested include students, artists, citizen...
Maghreb rulers feeling a bit generous this week
At least two rulers in North Africa felt a bit generous this week. In Morocco, King Mohammed issued an order to free 201 people from prison. They are all nationals of Sub-Saharan nations whose crime was to immigrate outside of their troubled countries and show up in...
With oppression and no free speech, North Africans turn to football stadiums for politics
By Hamza Mekouar - From Casablanca to Algiers via Tunis, the chants belted out across football stadiums echo young North African fans' frustrations not connected to the highs and lows of the beautiful game. Chants of "F'bladi delmouni!" ("Oppressed in my country!") at...
Immigration: Spain faces spike in migrant arrivals
Madrid, Feb 4, 2020 - The number of migrants reaching the Canaries soared last month to 18 times the level of a year ago, Spanish government figures showed on Tuesday. The spike has raised fears of a resurgence of migrant traffic to the Atlantic islands, a route taken...
Morocco: Don’t steal the king’s watches, you’ll go to jail for 15 years
Rabat, Jan 25, 2020 - A Moroccan court has sentenced a cleaner to 15 years in prison for the theft of dozens of luxury watches belonging to King Mohammed VI, her lawyer said. The 46-year-old woman worked in a royal household and the judgement was handed down overnight...
Morocco: Rights group accuses Morocco of holding Belgian-Moroccan in inhuman conditions
Rabat, Jan 17, 2020 - Human Rights Watch on Friday accused Morocco of holding a dual Belgian-Moroccan citizen in "inhuman" and "abusive solitary detention" for more than three years following his 2009 life sentence on terrorism charges. Abdelkader Belliraj was the...
Moroccan regime confirms its zero tolerance to free speech
Rabat, Dec 26, 2019 - A Moroccan YouTuber (see photo) was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison for "insulting the king" in a video broadcast on social networks, his lawyer said. In a separate case, a Moroccan journalist and activist was charged and detained over...
Morocco arrests suspected insurgent
Moroccan anti-terror police announced Sunday the arrest of an alleged jihadist who "planned a suicide attack". The 41-year-old extremist tried to "build expertise in the use of arms", Morocco's central office for judicial investigations said in a statement. He was...
Morocco: Another tragedy on North Africa roads, 17 killed in bus crash near Taza
Rabat, Dec 2, 2019 - A bus crash in northern Morocco killed 17 people as the vehicle overturned, the health ministry said Monday, in the second such accident in North Africa the same day. The bus crashed on Sunday near Taza, a town between the Rif and Atlas mountains,...
Morocco: Spirit AeroSystems acquires Bombardier’s Casablanca site
London, Oct 31, 2019 - Canadian manufacturing group Bombardier announced Thursday it was selling its aerostructures business to US firm Spirit AeroSystems, involving operations in Belfast, Casablanca and Dallas, in a cash-plus-debt deal exceeding $1 billion....
Morocco: Police seize more than four tons of cannabis in Tangier
Customs and police operating at the port of Tangier-Med thwarted an attempt to ship 4.4 tons of cannabis to Europe. The cannabis was found in a shipment of fish for export. One man was arrested.
Morocco arrests seven suspected insurgents, says MEA Risk
The Moroccan authorities arrested seven Moroccan nationals suspected of plotting attacks in the kingdom. The police say the suspects were acting on behalf of Islamic State (IS) focusing on infrastructure. The seven were arrested in several locations in Tamaris, near...
Morocco: Amnesty accuses Morocco of using spyware on rights activists
London, Oct 10, 2019 - Two rights activists in Morocco have been targeted by surveillance technology developed by an Israeli firm that enables the sender to seize near-full control of mobile devices, Amnesty International said Thursday. The rights group said academic...
Inside the Moroccan cannabis business: local marijuana being replaced by hybrid varieties
Ketama, Morocco, Oct 10, 2019 - Morocco's rugged Rif Mountains have long been renowned for their cannabis but traditional varieties are being smoked out by foreign hybrids offering higher yields and greater potency. The local strain of marijuana, known as Beldiya, is...
Western Sahara: The forgotten conflict that is likely to perdure
United Nations, United States, Oct 3, 2019 (AFP) - UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he hopes to maintain the political "momentum" to seek a solution to the Western Sahara conflict, despite having not had a special envoy to the region for the past four...
Morocco: Journalist Hajar Raissouni sent to jail for “illegal abortion”
Rabat, Sept 30, 2019 - Moroccan journalist Hajar Raissouni was sentenced in a Rabat court Monday to one year in jail for having had an "illegal abortion" and sexual relations outside marriage. Her gynaecologist was given two years and her Sudanese fiance one year in...
Morocco: Flood overturns bus in Errachidia, 17 killed
Rabat, Sept 9, 2019 - At least 17 people were killed in Morocco when flood waters overturned their bus in the kingdom's southeast, authorities said Monday. Rescuers have been searching for bodies since the accident Sunday, when the bus flipped on a bridge in a valley...
Morocco: Female journalist and others arrested for alleged ‘abortion’
Rights groups urged Moroccan authorities on Friday to immediately release a journalist arrested on charges of having an "illegal abortion" -- an act her lawyers deny. Hajar Raissouni writes for the Arabic-language daily Akhbar Al-Yaoum, which has a history of run-ins...
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