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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$11bil.
Algeria and Russia are to begin military maneuvers in the Mediterranean on Saturday, 22 October 2022. The drills will last four days in what appears to be a new sign of rapprochement between the two countries. In a press release, the Algerian Ministry of Defense...
Morocco: Spanish court OKs deportation of alleged Salafist personality to Morocco
A court in Spain has approved the deportation of Moroccan Muslim activist, who is accused of being one of the "main advocates" in Spain of the Salafist movement of ultra-conservative Islamism. Police arrested Mohamed Said Badaoui on Tuesday in the northeastern...
Morocco annoyed by South Africa’s continued backing of Western Sahara’s independence
Morocco on Thursday blasted what it called Pretoria's "gesticulations and agitations" over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, in reaction to the South African president backing the region's independence. On Tuesday President Cyril Ramaphosa offered his...
Analysis: Maghreb Nations’ positions in the Russian War in Ukraine ($)
Analysis by Arezki Daoud: Have you even wondered what position smaller countries in the world have taken in regard to the Russian war in Ukraine? Let’s have a look at three of them today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022. The Maghreb’s biggest nations and regional rivals,...
Morocco triples migrants’ jail terms over border storming
A Moroccan appeals court more than tripled to three years prison sentences against 18 African migrants over the deadly storming of a Spanish enclave in June, a lawyer said. The migrants had been arrested after some 2,000 people, mostly from Sudan, tried to breach the...
Morocco takes new steps to bring to market cannabis for medicinal use
The Morocco government issued for the first time on October 4, 2022, 10 permits to legally roll out the cannabis use for medicinal purposes. A regulatory agency ANRAC was set up to issue such permits and monitor the sector’s activities, from cultivation and processing...
Moroccans protest “humiliating” visa issuance policy at Rabat EU’s office
Dozens of Moroccans demonstrated outside the European Union's office in Rabat on Tuesday in protest at "racist" and "humiliating" treatment over visa applications, particularly by former colonial ruler France. "We're here to express our anger at the humiliation,...
Morocco: Dozen alleged Jihadists arrested in Melilla and Nador
Moroccan and Spanish police have dismantled a jihadist cell suspected of links to the Islamic State group, officials said Tuesday. The operation led to the arrest of 11 people in raids on Tuesday morning: nine in the Spanish enclave of Melilla on Morocco's northern...
Moroccan nomads’ way of life threatened by climate change
By Kaouthar Oudrhiri In the blistering desert of Morocco, the country's last Berber nomads, the Amazigh, say their ancient lifestyle is under threat as climate change brings ever-more intense droughts. "Everything has changed," said Moha Ouchaali, his wrinkled...
Morocco: Toxic alcohol kills 19 in Ksar El Kebir
At least 19 people have died and dozens of others were hospitalised after consuming toxic alcohol from a roadside kiosk in northern Morocco, local media reported Wednesday. Police arrested a 48-year-old suspect in connection with the incident, the Directorate General...
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