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Morocco’s argan industry in need of stimulus
By Kaouther Larbi: Morocco's argan oil is highly prized by the cosmetics industry, yet it is now mostly produced by elderly workers, raising questions about how long the artisanal practice can continue. A dozen women, sitting on the floor of a workshop inland from...
Migration: Tragedy at sea with dead-by-drowning of 13 Moroccan migrants in failed sea crossing
The bodies of 13 Moroccans have been recovered after their boat sank off the country's southern coast while attempting to reach Spain's Canary Islands, Moroccan media reported. Spain is one of the main gateways for migrants to reach Europe. Tens of thousands also try...
Covid-19: Ban on entry into Morocco for travelers from China takes effect on 3 January
Morocco said Saturday it will ban entry to all travellers from China, where cases of Covid-19 have exploded. Other nations, including France, Britain and Morocco's cross-strait neighbour Spain, have said they will require negative Covid tests for all travellers from...
Morocco: Migrant incursions from Morocco to Melilla on new year’s eve
A group of Moroccans entered Spain's Melilla enclave overnight Saturday-Sunday, a rights group said, out of dozens who attempted the crossing at one of two EU land borders with Africa. "Dozens of young Moroccans attempted to cross" into Melilla from the border town...
Morocco: French national seeks UN help to fight extradition to US from Morocco
The lawyer of a Frenchman held in Morocco and fighting extradition to the United States for alleged hacking told AFP Wednesday he was appealing to a UN body to intervene. Philippe Ohayon, who represents 21-year-old Sebastien Raoult, said a prison guard had shown his...
Morocco sentences for migrants over Melilla tragedy ‘unjust’: rights group
A Moroccan rights group on Saturday slammed "unjust" punishments given to migrants sentenced over a mass attempted crossing into the Spanish enclave of Melilla that left at least 23 dead. Around 2,000 people, many of them Sudanese, stormed the frontier on June 24 in...
MENA: How to tame hawkish Netanyahu as US fears new right-wing government in Israel could derail Abraham accords
The United States plans a meeting early in 2023 between Israel and Arab nations that recognize it as it pushes the incoming right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu to show restraint, a US official said Tuesday. Netanyahu is set to take office with the most...
France set to readjust visa issuance policy for Maghreb visitors
By Delphine Touitou: France and Morocco announced Friday they were mending fences after months of tensions over visas, and said President Emmanuel Macron would visit the North African kingdom in early 2023. Speaking in Rabat alongside her Moroccan counterpart Nasser...
Morocco makes history, reaches semifinals at World Cup 2022
COMMENTARY By Arezki Daoud: Morocco has achieved a miracle. Its victory over Portugal to reach the semifinals of World Cup 2022 is not just about excellent sportsmanship. It is not just about flawless execution with flawless statistical data. That would be too...
Spain looks for 12 who fled plane after ’emergency landing’
Spanish police were still searching for 12 passengers who fled their plane Wednesday after an emergency landing at Barcelona airport following what may have been a fake medical incident, officials said. They were part of a group of 28 people on a Pegasus Airlines...
Morocco’s fertilizer export earnings to reach new records, used in diplomatic competition
By Ismail Bellaouali: A global fertiliser supply shock deepened by Russia's Ukraine invasion has brought boom times for the North African phosphate superpower Morocco and earned the kingdom new diplomatic capital. Rabat is using the leverage especially in the...
Morocco: Social protests erupt in Morocco
Protesters turned out in force to march in Morocco's capital Rabat Sunday to denounce the "high cost of living and repression", amid surging inflation and rising social discontent. "The people want lower prices... The people want to eliminate despotism and...
UNESCO set to give Algerian Rai music and Tunisian Harissa heritage status
The French baguette, Algerian Rai music and Tunisia's harissa condiment are among this year's contenders for recognition as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO, which started deliberations Monday in Morocco. The United Nations' cultural agency is examining 56...
Morocco: Two million captagon pills seized in port of Tangier
Moroccan authorities Friday seized more than two million amphetamine-type captagon pills, foiling an "international trafficking attempt" to West Africa, police said. The pills were found at the Tanger Med industrial port complex on the kingdom's northern coast, the...
Western Sahara: As conflict persists, UN urges new talks
The UN Security Council called Thursday on the parties to the conflict over the disputed Western Sahara to resume negotiations toward a settlement. The vote on the US-drafted resolution was 13 in favor with abstentions by Kenya and Russia. Western Sahara, a Spanish...
Morocco: Gang of human smugglers arrested in Nador
Morocco arrests 32 migrants trying to reach Spain Moroccan police on Friday arrested 32 migrants as they tried to set sail for Spain, authorities said, including six Moroccans and 26 from other African nations to the south. The group were planning to leave from the...
Morocco: Protest in Rabat over economic hardship
A trade union close to the main Moroccan Islamist party on Sunday mobilised several hundred supporters in the capital to protest against the high cost of living. The rally, outside parliament and witnessed by AFP journalists, came after several protests already this...
Defense: Algeria-Russia start join military drills in the Mediterranean Sea, as Morocco set defense budget to US$11bil.
Algeria and Russia are to begin military maneuvers in the Mediterranean on Saturday, 22 October 2022. The drills will last four days in what appears to be a new sign of rapprochement between the two countries. In a press release, the Algerian Ministry of Defense...
Morocco: Spanish court OKs deportation of alleged Salafist personality to Morocco
A court in Spain has approved the deportation of Moroccan Muslim activist, who is accused of being one of the "main advocates" in Spain of the Salafist movement of ultra-conservative Islamism. Police arrested Mohamed Said Badaoui on Tuesday in the northeastern...
Morocco annoyed by South Africa’s continued backing of Western Sahara’s independence
Morocco on Thursday blasted what it called Pretoria's "gesticulations and agitations" over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, in reaction to the South African president backing the region's independence. On Tuesday President Cyril Ramaphosa offered his...
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